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The contribution of critical realism as an underpinning philosophy for OR/MS and systems

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  • J Mingers

    (Warwick University)

Abstract

Many issues are under debate as to the philosophical nature of OR/MS: is it science or technology? Is it natural or social science? Can it be realist as well as being interpretivist? There are also many debates within the philosophy of science itself. This paper proposes that a particular account of the philosophy of science, known as ‘critical realism’, is especially suitable as an underpinning of OR/MS. The structure of the argument of this paper is to outline the main positions within the philosophy of science and highlight their problems, especially from the point of view of OR/MS; then to introduce critical realism and to show how it addresses these problems and how it is particularly appropriate for OR/MS; and finally to illustrate this by considering examples of various practical OR methods.

Suggested Citation

  • J Mingers, 2000. "The contribution of critical realism as an underpinning philosophy for OR/MS and systems," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 51(11), pages 1256-1270, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:jorsoc:v:51:y:2000:i:11:d:10.1057_palgrave.jors.2601033
    DOI: 10.1057/palgrave.jors.2601033
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Shaw, Duncan & Smith, Chris M. & Scully, Judy, 2019. "From Brexit to Article 50: Applying Critical Realism to the design and analysis of a longitudinal causal mapping study," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 276(2), pages 723-735.
    2. Richard John Ormerod, 2022. "The economic logic of OR consulting practice: Towards a foundational view," Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(4), pages 685-707, July.
    3. W Ulrich, 2007. "Philosophy for professionals: towards critical pragmatism," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 58(8), pages 1109-1113, August.
    4. J Mingers, 2005. "‘More dangerous than an unanswered question is an unquestioned answer’: a contribution to the Ulrich debate," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 56(4), pages 468-474, April.
    5. John Mingers, 2003. "Replies to Jackson and Gregory," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 54(12), pages 1303-1304, December.
    6. J Mingers, 2006. "A critique of statistical modelling in management science from a critical realist perspective: its role within multimethodology," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 57(2), pages 202-219, February.
    7. Frank H Gregory, 2003. "Mingers on the classification of philosophical assumptions," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 54(12), pages 1301-1302, December.
    8. Richard John Ormerod, 2021. "Pragmatism in professional practice," Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(6), pages 797-816, November.
    9. J Mingers, 2005. "Classifying philosophical assumptions: a reply to Ormerod," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 56(4), pages 465-467, April.
    10. Jacob Høgaard Christensen, 2022. "Enhancing mixed methods pragmatism with systems theory: Perspectives from educational research," Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(1), pages 104-115, January.
    11. Jeff Scales, 2020. "A design science research approach to closing the gap between the research and practice of project scheduling," Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(5), pages 804-812, September.
    12. Franco, L. Alberto & Hämäläinen, Raimo P. & Rouwette, Etiënne A.J.A. & Leppänen, Ilkka, 2021. "Taking stock of behavioural OR: A review of behavioural studies with an intervention focus," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 293(2), pages 401-418.
    13. François-Xavier de Vaujany & Nathalie Mitev & Matthew Smith & Isabelle Walsh, 2017. "Renewing Literature Reviews in MIS Research? A Critical Realist Approach," Working Papers hal-01648133, HAL.
    14. R Ormerod, 2006. "The history and ideas of pragmatism," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 57(8), pages 892-909, August.
    15. Shaw, Duncan & Smith, Chris M. & Scully, Judy, 2017. "Why did Brexit happen? Using causal mapping to analyse secondary, longitudinal data," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 263(3), pages 1019-1032.
    16. Mirani, Rajesh, 2013. "A case study of morphogenetic change in long-term offshoring," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 33(4), pages 663-673.
    17. Paul Edwards, 2015. "Critical social science and emancipation: II, development and application," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(4), pages 275-292, July.
    18. Richard John Ormerod, 2023. "The logic of semiotics applied to mathematical and social interaction in operational research consulting practice: Towards a foundational view," Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(1), pages 16-42, January.
    19. Ana Gabriela Ramírez-Gutiérrez & Pedro Pablo Cardoso-Castro & Ricardo Tejeida-Padilla, 2021. "A Methodological Proposal for the Complementarity of the SSM and the VSM for the Analysis of Viability in Organizations," Systemic Practice and Action Research, Springer, vol. 34(3), pages 331-357, June.
    20. Z Zhu, 2011. "After paradim: why mixing-methodology theorising fails and how to make it work again," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 62(4), pages 784-798, April.
    21. J Mingers, 2003. "A classification of the philosophical assumptions of management science methods," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 54(6), pages 559-570, June.
    22. C M Brugha, 2004. "Structure of multi-criteria decision-making," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 55(11), pages 1156-1168, November.
    23. Zhichang Zhu, 2022. "Paradigm, specialty, pragmatism: Kuhn's legacy to methodological pluralism," Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(5), pages 895-912, September.

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