UNSPECIFIED (2000) The contribution of critical realism as an underpinning philosophy for OR/MS and systems. [Journal Item]

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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.

Item Type:	Journal Item
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor > HD28 Management. Industrial Management
Journal or Publication Title:	JOURNAL OF THE OPERATIONAL RESEARCH SOCIETY
Publisher:	NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP
ISSN:	0160-5682
Date:	November 2000
Volume:	51
Number:	11
Number of Pages:	15
Page Range:	pp. 1256-1270
Publication Status:	Published
URI:	http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/12809

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