For Truth and Realism in Management Research

Is truth a research goal and regulative ideal that is appropriate for management research? Is realism an appropriate philosophical foundation for management research? This article answers in the affirmative on both of these questions by (a) using historical method to develop the four fundamental tenets of scientific realism, (b) using the historical material to show how some management writers have presented a historically false view of scientific realism, (c) developing a scientific realist model of truth, and (d) using trust as a foundation, arguing for truth and realism in management research.

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