The philosophy of science foundations of marketing research: For scientific realism and the inductive realist models of theory status and generation

All marketing research requires philosophy of science foundations. That is, every marketing research project presumes an ontology (what entities – the referents of the constructs – does the research assume to have real existence?), a methodology (what procedures are to be followed for good research?), and an epistemology (how are the knowledge claims of the research to be properly evaluated?). This article argues for scientific realism and the inductive realist models of theory status and generation as providing an appropriate philosophy of science foundation for marketing research. The article (1) explicates the nature of scientific realism, (2) discusses the advantages for marketing researchers of using it as a philosophical foundation, (3) points out three major problems associated with scientific realism, which are labeled the problems of “approximate truth,” “sociological/political factors,” and “theory development,” (4) reviews the inductive realist model of theory status and shows how it can address the first two problems, (5) reviews the inductive realist model of theory generation and shows how it can address the third problem, and (6) concludes with an invitation for readers to propose viable alternatives to scientific realism so that productive discussion on the philosophical foundations issue can take place.