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Published on: January 12, 2018
Philosophical problems with social research on health inequalities
1Research in Health & Social Care Section, Florence Nightingale School of Nursing, King's College London, University of London, UK. steven.wainwright@kcl.ac.uk
Abstract:
This paper offers a realist critique of social research on health inequalities. A conspectus of the field of health inequalities research identifies two main research approaches: the positivist quantitative survey and the interpretivist qualitative 'case study'. We argue that both approaches suffer from serious philosophical limitations. We suggest that a turn to realism offers a productive 'third way' both for the development of health inequality research in particular and for the social scientific understanding of the complexities of the social world in general.
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