Critical realismEscaping the straightjacket of cognitivism. Developing a theoretical basis for planned intervention and change in social systems

Nick McDonald

Anti-realism

There are 2 main philosophical positions in social science which deny that we can have knowledge of reality

• All reality consists in conscious states– ‘phenomenalist idealism’– E.g. cognitive psychology

• Reality is socially constructed – ‘social constructionism’– Various theories from social cognition to critical theory

Organisations as mental constructions - some examples

• Organisation theory as metaphor (Morgan)– Machines– Cultures– Organisms– Domination and suppression

• Organisations as relational processes (Hosking and Morley)– Enactive, socially constructed processes– Against reification, ‘entitative’ concepts,

• Organisations as ‘sensemaking’ (Weick)

Problems of cognitive & social constructionist models

Cognition / social cognition• Focus on internal states (mental

models) or local relationships with technology (ergonomics)

• Tends to lack ecologically valid evidence of actions in context

• No independent criterion beyond intentionality– When is an action correct/

appropriate/ effective?– Takes external authority for

granted - cannot ever challenge whether a rule or procedure is adequate

Social construction• Represents ‘reality’ as

experienced by participants• Rich interpretation• No evaluation criteria

– Cannot evaluate strengths or weaknesses of social organisations

• No causal analysis– What social constraints

influence how people act?

• Cannot be used to design better social systems

A logical fallacy

Denial of reality is based on a logical fallacy:• We are only aware of reality through mental states

– Tautology

• The reality we experience is construed / constructed mentally– Restatement of tautology

• Therefore there is no reality other than our experience / mental construction– False inference

• Therefore the object of human / social science is only cognition / mental constructions– False conclusion

3 varieties of realism

• Naïve realism– Gibson’s theory of visual perception

• Speech acts and institutional facts– Searle: ‘Construction of social reality’

• Critical realism– Bhaskar: ‘Possibility of Naturalism’

Critical realism (Bhaskar)

Society

Individuals

Socialisation Reproduction / transformation

• Society socialises individuals who reproduce or transform social reality through social action

• Social systems are real, with real causes and constraints that are external to the individual

• They are created by people, unlike natural systems, but can be investigated, like natural systems

• Role of agency - intentions as causes of actions

What is a social system?

• Normative regularities of social action create social systems

• But, norm is an ambiguous concept– What should be done– What normally is done

• In social systems with important consequences – Relations of power determine what ought to be done - the official

system– The contingencies of situated action determine what is done– The regularities of situated action create the real system

• The real system is what normally actually happens

Desire, mental model,Sense-making

Culture

Near

Remote

Simple

Complex

Micro -Task/activity

Macro -Organisation /Social system

Short term

Long term

Small scale

Large scale

Intentionality Action -Movement/ change

Causality –constraint

Social system

Social institutionplus technology & environment

A social theory should explain:

Action, system, context• Actions

– Make social processes work (or not)– Are not necessarily governed by the functional logic of operations, but by

broader social processes– Can be represented in narrative accounts

• System– Aggregation of social action in regular generic pattern– Operational processes are only part of the social system– Formal system may differ radically from real system

• Context– Causal influence on action, mediated by people making sense of their

situation, understanding (imperfectly) the constraints in which they are acting and formulating intentions

– Understanding context often makes intentions transparent

Social Systems• Reality of social systems (SS)

– They have compelling force upon their members

• Our knowledge of an SS is imperfect & partial– We ‘construe’ reality rather than ‘construct’ it

• One starting point is to look at operational processes– Most work we do is based on a functional sequence linking input

to outcome

• Other social processes (not directed at the functional goal) may facilitate or inhibit operational processes– Should not assume all social processes are goal-driven (teleology)

Some core elements of social processes

• Structural characteristics of relationships– Power, affinity of interest, authority, expertise…

• Mechanisms of social interaction– Co-ordination by mutual adjustment, supervision,

standardisation of skills, output, etc.

• Capacity of individuals/ groups– Competence

• Quality of social relationships– Trust

Action

• Actions instantiate social processes– Stability of social systems is only relative– Constantly reproduced or transformed by aggregated

activity

• Causal structure of action and consequence– Intention, action, result, consequence

The logic of action (according to von Wright)

• Acts create events which bring about change in the world– Transition of one state of affairs to another– Initiating, transforming or ending a process

• 4 logical possibilities– Doing something– Undoing something– Preserving some state– Preventing some state coming about

• Forebearing to act in the above ways gives 8 possibilities of action

Context

• Structured model of context / situation?– Current social processes– Actions of others– Environment

• Physical, technology, social, organisational

– Relevant history• Self, group, organisation

Culture

• Culture and system are ‘two sides of the same coin’

• Therefore a cultural account has to mirror all the same relations as outlined above– In the domain of meanings and values– Not the domain of functions and causality

• Culture links, through sensemaking, to intentions• Cultural accounts give interpretive richness to

system descriptions

Stability and change• The social system constrains/directs action, but not absolutely - role of

agency. People act intentionally as agents.• Actions can reproduce or transform the social system• Stability and change represent the resolution of the tension between

– Real actions in time of individuals and groups of individuals • Influenced by socialisation, but directed by intentions

– Normative regularities of aggregated actions of individuals• Reproducing or transforming the social system, socialising individuals

Society

Individuals

Socialisation Reproduction / transformation

Intention and action

• Incompatible theories– (A) Intentions are causes of action (Bhaskar)– (B) Intentions are retrospective justifications of action

(Cognitive dissonance theory)

• If B is correct then the motivation of action is not comprehensible & cognition is essentially conservative (no possibility of intentional change in actions and hence of planned social change)

• It is difficult to reconstruct intentions, but it can be done through exhaustive reconstruction of the context of action

Relevance and Leverage

• Two questions about a useful theory:– Does it address the mechanisms we wish to explain (is it relevant)?– Does it enable us to change the situation in a positive way (does it give us

leverage)?

• Cognitive and social constructivist theories only address cognitive/mental mechanisms– Ignore causal mechanisms in social systems (lack relevance)– Only focus on change mechanisms involving changing mindsets (e.g.

training) - not a powerful influence if nothing else changes (limited leverage)

• If we want to change the ways which social systems function in order to improve outcomes, we need a theory which is relevant (addresses actions in social systems) and which gives leverage (identifies how to change the system to improve the outcome).

Bibliography

• Searle, J.R.(1995): The Construction of Social Reality. Allen Lane: the Penguin Press

• Von Wright, G.H. (1963): Norm and Action. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul– Chapter III Act and Ability, pp 35-55

• Bhaskar, R (1979): The Possibility of Naturalism. Brighton: Harvester

Readings

• Robson C. (2002): Real World Research (second edition). Oxford: Blackwell– Chapters 1 & 2, pp. 3-44

• Sayer, A. (2000): Realism and Social Science. London: Sage– Pp. 10-28

• Some of our own work discussed in the lecture can be seen in:– McDonald N.(2006): Organisational resilience and

industrial risk. In Resilience Engineering (Eds.: E. Hollnagel, D. Woods., N. Leveson) Aldershot:Ashgate