Realist synthesis: a critique and an alternative

Abstract

Realist synthesis is often offered as a useful strategy to understand intervention complexity. Its unique selling point is its basis in a critical realist philosophy of science. However, we argue that the philosophical basis of current approaches to realist synthesis is closer to positivism, notably the focus on bringing a theoretical reduction to complex problems, a strategy eschewed in critical realism’s concern with complex independent ontology. We critique three recently published reviews to illustrate our arguments and apply an analytic strategy to findings from a realist review that, we argue, is more in line with critical realism.