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One of the core
processes of qualitative interpretivist research is the one whereby events
in the real world are conveyed to a reader who may be (to varying degrees)
distant in temporal, spatial, intellectual, linguistic and cultural terms.
A critical question in such research is to what extent this process has
integrity? How can the researcher be sure that the events/phenomena that (s)he
is researching, i.e. what has actually occurred, is what the reader
understands to have occurred? This question, of the reliability of
transmission of qualitative empirical evidence, is independent of any
interpretation or theoretical model that the writer may wish to impose on
this evidence. In much interpretivist research, the core ‘facts’, the raw
data so to speak, must first pass through a surprisingly large array of
filters before it eventually creates a mental picture in the mind of the
reader. The nature of the problems and distortions these filters create
will also vary with the methodology used. Nonetheless, if the writer is
honest, the presentation of the evidence should be such as to allow the
reader to assess independently the extent to which it supports any
theoretical ideas or conclusions being presented.
This question goes
to the heart of the primary fault line in information systems research and
elsewhere in the social sciences, namely the difference between positivist
and interpretivist philosophies. The kernel of the debate between
protagonists of these two approaches rotates around the meaning of
reality, how it is measured and how it is reported. Two specific aspects
of this debate are what constitutes a fact and what constitutes evidence?
In this paper both
the nature of fact and the transmission of fact in interpretivist research
is explored using the case study methodology as an exemplar. A
hypothetical, but realistic, case study is used to examine the
difficulties that arise en route from original phenomenon to reader
and the various filters through which research must travel is catalogued.
From this, it is argued that a taxonomy of fact emerges from
interpretivist research and the concept of an interpretation boundary is
proposed.
Keywords:
fact; intepretivism; case study; cognitive bias; cultural bias; research;
filters.
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