El Decaimiento de las Sociedades

This research was conducted within the theoretical framework of critical realism. The critical realist accepts that all observation is fallible and subject to error and that consequently 'truths' are subject to revision. To that end, the critical realist is critical of humans' ability to know reality with any degree of certainty. Critical realism is described by Maxwell (2012) as an inclusive meta-theoretical perspective, accommodating the strengths of positivism and constructionism

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while avoiding their many pitfalls (Owens and Ridley, 2011). As a meta- theoretical perspective, critical realism differentiates ontology and epistemology, recognising realism as its ontological worldview and theorising that the social world exists independently of human understanding (Maxwell, 2012). This recognition differs from the naive realism of positivism that assumes that reality can be observed (Owens and Ridley, 2011). However, despite true reality being unknowable, critical realists postulate that humans possess unique interpretations of reality that reflect their life experiences and that these many perspectives are equally valid (Morris, 2003). This study explores the life experience of athletes, coaches and those leading UK para-athletics. Factors impacting human performance, human interpretations of real experiences and perspectives are valid to identify determinants of success in para-athletics will also be investigated. Whilst critical realism is ontologically realist , similar to positivism, it is epistemologically relativist, similar to constructivism, meaning that reality is a true but unknowable concept and that knowledge is constructed and contingent on factors such as perception, experience, and convention (Guba and Lincoln, 1994, Maxwell, 2012).

Bhaskar (1978) has suggested that critical realism has a layered rather than flat ontology and this has significant epistemological implications. The layers are the empirical, the actual and the real. The empirical domain is where observations are made and experienced by observers. However, events occur in the actual domain and may not be observed at all or may be understood quite differently by observers. There is a process of interpretation that intervenes between the two domains (Easton, 2010); events occur as a result of the processes of reality. Since there can be no definitive criteria to judge the “truth” of a particular version, critical realism relies on the researcher to collect further

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data that helps to distinguish alternative explanations and on the community of researchers to debate them thoroughly. In the case of this research, to ignite the debate and assess the applicability of existing models of elite sport and the factors determining international parasport success, criticality is essential to understand the features of the real world (Woodside and Wilson, 2003; Woodside, Pattinson, and Miller, 2005).

The literature affirms the view that critical realism does not have an obligation or allegiance to a single form of research. The critical realist approach proposes , via research to get beneath the surface, to uncover the truth and explain why things are the way they are. This study , attempts to answer “what the determinants of international sporting success for para-athletics are”. Regardless of the complexity of statistical analysis, or the richness of an ethnographic interpretation, this research explores the reality of para-athletics..

A significant advantage of this study utilising a critical realist approach is that it maintains reality while still recognising the inherent meaningfulness of social interaction which allows us to construct a consistent and coherent account of our experience (Bisman, 2010). From a realist standpoint, the approach provides the means to determine the reality of the determinants of international parasport success, through the triangulation of cognition processes, which include elements of both positivism and constructivism rather than solely one or the other (Krauss, 2005). Sayer (2000) explained that when compared to positivism and interpretivism, ‘critical realism endorses or is compatible with a relatively wide range of research methods, but it implies that the particular choices should depend on the nature of the object of study and what one wants to learn about it’ (Sayer, 2000, p. 19). The fundamental principle of critical

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realism is that we can use causal language to describe the world, therefore enabling non-academics to interpret findings and then act , in this case, implementing recommendations to improve performance. Since all philosophical positions rely on assumptions, they can only be ultimately judged pragmatically, not in the limited sense used by pragmatists but in terms of our beliefs that they result in better explanations. Critical realism is performative (Easton, 2010), in addition to being opposed to meta-theoretical positions (Calder, 2011). The conjoining of ontological realism and epistemological constructionism within critical realism renders research sensitive to both observation and interpretation (Owens, 2011). The approach characterised by epistemological dualism, that is the perceived/cognitive world vs the outside/unknown world, methodological pluralism, the acceptance/legitimacy of different research methodologies and is a meta-theoretical position which often underpins mixed-method research and the multi-perspective study of phenomena.

Within realist qualitative research, language can accurately reflect and describe experiences (Widdicombe and Wooffitt, 1995). Within constructionist qualitative research, language can articulate the constructs and perspectives that the word has been experienced within (Braun and Clarke, 2006), as experienced by the athletes and coaches. A tenet of critical realism research, which differentiates it from other qualitative paradigms, is the requirement for researchers to engage with prior theory during the early phases of the research process, so that underlying structures and conceptual models are developed before data analysis begins (Sobh and Perry, 2006). This study has reviewed the existing elite sport development models to identify themes for investigation. Typically, critical realist research follows a sequential, staged structure so that prior work is undertaken to generate information, with consideration of existing models,

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identification of conceptual frameworks, and exploration of underlying structures via consultation with literature and people with experience of the phenomenon of interest (ibid). Within the framework of critical realism both quantitative and qualitative methodologies are appropriate (Healy and Perry, 2000). Fraser (2014) advocates the use of critical realism, a middle-ground research philosophy. Critical realism, while allowing researchers to hold a preferred philosophical position, provides the opportunity to undertake mixed method research, which has a greater potential of producing research likely to bring us closer to the ‘truth’. Rather than being supposedly value-free, as in positivistic research, or value-laden as in interpretive research (Guba and Lincoln, 1998), realism is instead value conscious that is aware of the values of human systems and researchers.

3.5 RESEARCH APPROACH