Abstract
While addressing literature on migration and suggesting techniques and procedures for studying the topic, this book’s most basic concern is with the critical realist (CR) approach to social research. According to the author, Theodoros Iosifides, “Critical realism is a philosophical movement aiming to guide substantive social science theorising and research practice and to offer a viable alternative both to positivism-empiricism and to various versions of idealism/neo-idealism, relativism and linguistic and/or discursive reductionism . . .” (p. 45).
It terms of its actual application, the CR approach to social research shares many values, goals, and techniques with other contemporary formulations of qualitative methodology. These include the implementation of multiple methods, an emphasis on examining social life on various levels, the use of ethnographic investigation for the development and refinement of theory, and a willingness to generalize from qualitative materials. Like other contemporary research methods, CR regards quantitative data, relativism, post-structuralism, life history research, and discourse analysis as useful but not self-sufficient means for conducting social research. They can contribute to a broader study but should not stand alone.
Accordingly, CR endorses methodological triangulation to collect inclusive and accurate information about society. Rejecting the strictly micro perspective that was formerly the bailiwick of qualitative social science, CR seeks to integrate quantitative and qualitative methods, link structure, culture, and agency, and connect micro and macro forces. Rather than rejecting causality as a solely positivistic concern, CR seeks to determine causality by identifying and comparing multiple interpretations of social contexts, structures, and events. Finally, rather than emphasizing political neutrality, CR embraces political and ethical values in the service of the oppressed. Accordingly, CR shares a great deal with other approaches to qualitative social analysis. One of the strengths of this book is that it summarizes a broader consensus about social research in a manner that can be applied to the study of migration and other topics as well.
Following the book’s introduction, Chapter Two addresses migrant movements and trends, theoretical approaches to migration, summarizes epistemological issues and methodological approaches to researching migration, and discusses central themes in migration research, including structures, policies, processes, and identities.
Chapter Three concentrates on theoretical and epistemological issues in qualitative research in order to outline the basic principles of CR, notably those developed by British sociologist/philosopher Margaret S. Archer. It also offers alternatives to conventional social science approaches including positivism, interpretivism, and social constructionism.
Herein, the author emphasizes that the CR outlook considers multiple levels of context, structure, interaction, and meaning for the creation theory. Further, CR stresses that social forces which may be beyond the comprehension of social actors can nevertheless impact their lives. Thus, it rejects relativistic approaches that require scholars to privilege respondents’ interpretations of reality. “In contrast to positivism and relativism alike, critical realism allows us to be both scientific and critical regarding social reality in general and migration-related social realities in particular” [emphasis in original] (p. 235).
Chapter Four concerns critical realism, social research methodology, and qualitative migration research. Because CR is a meta theory and its origins “are purely philosophical,” the author admits that “a concrete critical realist methodology has yet to fully be developed” (p. 127). Nevertheless, he argues that the growing application of the approach has contributed to developing means for the exploration of phenomena related to contemporary migration. Accordingly, the chapter summarizes various qualitative methods to be used within CR research. The chapter also discusses research ethics, quality and rigor in research, and mixed methods approaches.
Finally, Chapter Five, the conclusion, describes politics making (opposed to policy making) as informed by CR research. This section stresses the approach’s commitment to the promotion of equality and the elimination of exploitative, discriminatory environments and “the enhancement of emancipatory action, social critique and reality-grounded ethical commitments” (p. 235).
Qualitative Methods in Migration Studies: A Critical Realist Perspective is an ambitious and challenging book, which seeks to both explain and exemplify a new approach to social theory, research, and analysis. The history of qualitative sociology includes several projects with similar goals, whereby scholars present alternatives to mainstream ways of conducting social analysis. These include Harold Garfinkel’s ethnomethodolgy, Dorothy Smith’s work on feminist standpoint theory, Glaser and Strauss’ grounded theory, and Michael Burawoy’s extended case method. However, in each of the latter cases, the authors exemplified the application and utility of their paradigms with comprehensive elaborations of their approach, ones now regarded as archetypes of well-crafted social analysis.
In contrast, because this book is more intellectually wedded to philosophical analysis (teaching by telling) and less immersed in field research (teaching by showing), its presentation is less capable of convincing confused or skeptical readers of CR’s value and aesthetic appeal. Consequently, the description of the CR approach and its application to social research generally and migration studies more specifically remains abstract, stressing general principles for conducting research and analysis rather than demonstrating concrete techniques that researchers can readily apply in topics of their own choosing.
While the author courageously criticizes many of the most influential social theorists associated with qualitative methods, including Foucault, Blumer, and Goffman, his reliance on secondary sources rather than original texts as the basis of his critiques tends to undermine his arguments. Moreover, the book’s key points are often expressed in lengthy quotes from the writings of other CR scholars rather than in the author’s own words. This makes the discussion less direct and less powerful than it might have been otherwise. Finally, the quality of the book’s copy editing is sloppy, revealing frequent misspellings and making portions of the text incomprehensible. Many works cited in the text do not appear in the bibliography.
In sum, Qualitative Methods in Migration Studies: A Critical Realist Perspective introduces readers to a new approach to social research and immigration studies. Its high level of abstraction, lack of in-depth applications, and dearth of specific techniques that can be readily applied to on-going projects means that readers may encounter challenges as they attempt to apply the book’s lessons to their own research.