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Second order discourse: critically-informed research

Bednar, Peter LU and Welch, Christine (2006) ECRM2006: 5th European Conference on Research Method in Business and Management p.61-68
Abstract
Researchers who desire to bring about change in organizational settings require approaches to inquiry which can go beyond superficial appearances and prejudice. In seeking to go beyond mere examination of socio technical systems researchers have developed a proliferation of different approaches. Many of these have drawn upon social and human sciences to ground methods and assumptions in philosophical descriptions. However, critically informed researchers, in their efforts to make inquiries into organizational systems, may find it difficult to differentiate between approaches. Many approaches to inquiry are guided by philosophical foundations. There are others, however, in which philosophy is explicitly applied as part of inquiry. The... (More)
Researchers who desire to bring about change in organizational settings require approaches to inquiry which can go beyond superficial appearances and prejudice. In seeking to go beyond mere examination of socio technical systems researchers have developed a proliferation of different approaches. Many of these have drawn upon social and human sciences to ground methods and assumptions in philosophical descriptions. However, critically informed researchers, in their efforts to make inquiries into organizational systems, may find it difficult to differentiate between approaches. Many approaches to inquiry are guided by philosophical foundations. There are others, however, in which philosophy is explicitly applied as part of inquiry. The authors believe that, if we aspire to include active application of philosophical domains in our efforts at critically informed research, we need a language for reflection and interpretation. In this paper, we offer a taxonomy of orders of discourse on inquiry into organizational systems as a support mechanism to overcome some of these experienced difficulties. The proposed taxonomy offers a language for differentiation.



Drawing on our experiences in developing methods for contextual analysis, the authors have recognized a need to reflect upon sense-making process, as part of analysis in practice. For us, such critically informed inquiry represents a venture in practical philosophy, drawing on hermeneutics and phenomenology. By conceptualizing a second order discourse on inquiry into systems, researchers may be enabled to move beyond limitations of socio-technical approaches and be supported in their application of philosophy. We suggest that the proposed taxonomy may provide a clue to differentiate between philosophically grounded socio-technical inquiries, and philosophical practice as an integral part of analysis. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
and
publishing date
type
Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Systems analysis, Philosophy as practice, Second order discourse, Critically informed research
host publication
[Host publication title missing]
editor
Remenyi, Dan
pages
8 pages
publisher
Academic Conferences
conference name
ECRM2006: 5th European Conference on Research Method in Business and Management
conference location
Dublin:, Ireland
conference dates
2006-06-17 - 2006-06-18
ISBN
1-905305-26-5
language
English
LU publication?
no
id
afe1c488-ca27-4c66-b39b-3479311e126d (old id 1484883)
date added to LUP
2016-04-04 11:52:42
date last changed
2018-11-21 21:07:46
@inproceedings{afe1c488-ca27-4c66-b39b-3479311e126d,
  abstract     = {{Researchers who desire to bring about change in organizational settings require approaches to inquiry which can go beyond superficial appearances and prejudice. In seeking to go beyond mere examination of socio technical systems researchers have developed a proliferation of different approaches. Many of these have drawn upon social and human sciences to ground methods and assumptions in philosophical descriptions. However, critically informed researchers, in their efforts to make inquiries into organizational systems, may find it difficult to differentiate between approaches. Many approaches to inquiry are guided by philosophical foundations. There are others, however, in which philosophy is explicitly applied as part of inquiry. The authors believe that, if we aspire to include active application of philosophical domains in our efforts at critically informed research, we need a language for reflection and interpretation. In this paper, we offer a taxonomy of orders of discourse on inquiry into organizational systems as a support mechanism to overcome some of these experienced difficulties. The proposed taxonomy offers a language for differentiation. <br/><br>
<br/><br>
Drawing on our experiences in developing methods for contextual analysis, the authors have recognized a need to reflect upon sense-making process, as part of analysis in practice. For us, such critically informed inquiry represents a venture in practical philosophy, drawing on hermeneutics and phenomenology. By conceptualizing a second order discourse on inquiry into systems, researchers may be enabled to move beyond limitations of socio-technical approaches and be supported in their application of philosophy. We suggest that the proposed taxonomy may provide a clue to differentiate between philosophically grounded socio-technical inquiries, and philosophical practice as an integral part of analysis.}},
  author       = {{Bednar, Peter and Welch, Christine}},
  booktitle    = {{[Host publication title missing]}},
  editor       = {{Remenyi, Dan}},
  isbn         = {{1-905305-26-5}},
  keywords     = {{Systems analysis; Philosophy as practice; Second order discourse; Critically informed research}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{61--68}},
  publisher    = {{Academic Conferences}},
  title        = {{Second order discourse: critically-informed research}},
  year         = {{2006}},
}