| Sumario: | Previously, academics have explored ways that critical realism (CR) and grounded theory (GT) can be combined to potentiate the strengths and mitigate the perceived limitations of each. This literature is reviewed, with a particular focus on eight studies that utilized this combination in different contexts. It concludes that collectively they offer 'proof of concept' of this approach, producing robust analyses and novel findings. Importantly, three of these studies by Kempster, Redman-Maclaren and Mills, and Pullman shared a multistage, iterative design involving study participants in forms of codesign of the finished GTs. This paper posits that such designs enhance internal validity while according well with recent political and policy imperatives for service user co-design in the planning implementation and review of social service programmes. It also posits that this structure may be used fruitfully within critical realist research and the conceptually related field of realist evaluation.
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