An implementation of the reverse Monte Carlo (RMC) method for the study of
crystalline materials from polycrystalline neutron total scattering data is
presented. The new feature is that explicit account is taken of the intens
ities of Bragg peaks, which are extracted from the data using the Pawley me
thod. The use of Bragg peaks ensures that the RMC models reproduce both the
long-range and the short-range order reflected in the experimental data. T
he relative effects of different contributions to the data sets in the RMC
method are assessed and successful applications are illustrated using the q
uartz and cristobalite polymorphs of silica as examples.