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Topic · Sociology and Political Science

Critical Realism in Sociology

Critical Realism in Sociology is a research topic within Sociology and Political Science. Science Explorer counts 7k research works in it since 1950. 10.3% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers explores the interplay between social structure and individual agency, drawing on critical realism, relational sociology, and morphogenetic approaches. It delves into topics such as reflexivity, ontological commitments, power dynamics, and the emergence of social entities. The papers critically examine the relationship between structure and agency in social theory, offering insights into the complexities of human behavior within societal contexts.

  • Critical Realism
  • Social Structure
  • Agency
  • Reflexivity
  • Morphogenesis
  • Relational Sociology
  • Ontology
  • Empirical Research
  • Causality
  • Power
Research works
7k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
720
per year above
Top-10% rate
10.3%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
+26%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
United States
34% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Critical Realism in Sociology

Which countries lead Critical Realism in Sociology research?

By volume, the United States and the United Kingdom publish the most (303 and 208 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 United States 303 works
  2. 2 United Kingdom 208 works
  3. 3 Germany 83 works
  4. 4 China 50 works
  5. 5 Canada 49 works
  6. 6 Italy 47 works
  7. 7 Australia 45 works
  8. 8 France 39 works
  9. 9 Russia 31 works
  10. 10 Netherlands 28 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

United States: 34.3%United Kingdom: 23.6%Germany: 9.4%China: 5.7%6 others listed: 27.1%34%largest
United States303 · 34.3%United Kingdom208 · 23.6%Germany83 · 9.4%China50 · 5.7%6 others listed239 · 27.1%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Critical Realism in Sociology research?

By volume in 2022-now, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique publishes the most Critical Realism in Sociology research, followed by University of the Visual & Performing Arts and University of Warwick.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueFrance 13 works
  2. 2 University of the Visual & Performing ArtsSri Lanka 12 works
  3. 3 University of WarwickUnited Kingdom 11 works
  4. 4 Sapienza University of RomeItaly 10 works
  5. 5 University of CambridgeUnited Kingdom 9 works
  6. 6 University of EdinburghUnited Kingdom 9 works
  7. 7 University of ManchesterUnited Kingdom 7 works
  8. 8 Independent University of MoscowRussia 7 works
  9. 9 University of OxfordUnited Kingdom 7 works
  10. 10 University of BolognaItaly 7 works

Who are the leading researchers in Critical Realism in Sociology?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Critical Realism in Sociology include Daniel J. Kahneman, Pierre Bourdıeu and James Thomas.

  1. 1 Daniel J. Kahneman United States 395k citations
  2. 2 Pierre Bourdıeu France 268k citations
  3. 3 James Thomas United Kingdom 242k citations
  4. 4 Michel Foucault France 208k citations
  5. 5 Anselm L. Strauss United States 205k citations
  6. 6 F. Stuart Chapin United States 185k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

What are the most cited papers in Critical Realism in Sociology?

The most cited paper in Critical Realism in Sociology is "What Is Agency?" (Mustafa Emirbayer, Ann Mische, 1998), with 5,992 citations. Next come "Manifesto for a Relational Sociology" (3,801) and "Realist social theory the morphogenetic approach" (2,796).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 What Is Agency? Mustafa Emirbayer, Ann Mische · American Journal of Sociology 1998 5,992
2 Manifesto for a Relational Sociology Mustafa Emirbayer · American Journal of Sociology Sep 1997 3,801
3 Realist social theory the morphogenetic approach Margaret Scotford Archer 1995 2,796
4 The Maturational Processes and the Facilitating Environment Eli B. Harmon · Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry Apr 1967 2,519
5 The social space and the genesis of groups Pierre Bourdıeu · Theory and Society Nov 1985 2,487
All 99 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Critical Realism in Sociology research done?

The largest centres of Critical Realism in Sociology research in 2022-now are London (United Kingdom), Moscow (Russia), Paris (France) and New York (United States).

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 LondonUnited Kingdom 43 works
  2. 2 MoscowRussia 19 works
  3. 3 ParisFrance 18 works
  4. 4 New YorkUnited States 18 works
  5. 5 RomeItaly 15 works
  6. 6 SydneyAustralia 14 works
  7. 7 CambridgeUnited Kingdom 13 works
  8. 8 ColomboSri Lanka 13 works
  9. 9 ManchesterUnited Kingdom 12 works
  10. 10 Washington D.C.United States 11 works
See Critical Realism in Sociology on the map

Where is the best place to study Critical Realism in Sociology?

Among universities, judged by research, University of Warwick, University of Cambridge and University of the Visual & Performing Arts score highest, combining citation excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%10%20%mean 11.82%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →University of Cambri…University of WarwickUniversity of the Vi…University of Edinbu…
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the first ten of the table below, at the default weights. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

Citation excellenceshare of its work in the world top 10%, 2022-now and all time averaged
40%
Specialisationhow much of its work is in this field, counted up to 10× the world share
10%
Sizeits output in this field, on a log scale
30%
Growthoutput growth, counted from -20% to +20%
10%
Internationalshare of its work with a co-author abroad
10%
Each slider sets a weight; the share it gets of the score is beside it.
#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1University of WarwickUnited Kingdom 80.514.0%20.6×11 +44.0%
2University of CambridgeUnited Kingdom 61.521.5%7.0×10 -9.7%
3University of the Visual & Performing ArtsSri Lanka 50.88.6%879.9×12 -
4University of EdinburghUnited Kingdom 25.37.7%8.6×9 +157.1%
5Sapienza University of RomeItaly 20.97.3%7.3×10 -

Universities only. The score blends citation excellence (40%), size (30%), specialisation (10%), growth (10%), international reach (10%), 2022-now; growth compares 2018-21 with 2022-25 and counts up to +20%, since a jump from a small base is mostly noise.

Every institution in Critical Realism in Sociology, country by country

Is Critical Realism in Sociology research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 26% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2026. The fastest-growing topics are Critical Realism in Sociology.

still counting19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon: one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is Critical Realism in Sociology as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.0042% in 2024.

still counting0.010%0.020%Critical Realism in Sociology0.0060% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Critical Realism in Sociology over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Year by year.

still counting5%10%15%Critical Realism in Sociology10.5% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's works in it, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. A field is the world for its own topics, so there is no other line to hold it against.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

Discussion

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