Heuristic Inquiry

Abstract

This article is a presentation of heuristics as an approach to human science research. In its purest form, heuristics is a passionate and discerning personal involvement in problem solving, an effort to know the essence of some aspect of life through the internal pathways of the self. The private and imaginative nature of heuristic inquiry introduces a unique challenge in research investigations and in philosophical conceptualizations of human science. When utilized as a framework for research, it offers a disciplined pursuit of essential meanings connected with everyday human experiences. Through discussion of its inherent processes and values, we hope to develop a fresh perspective for the understanding and application of a heuristic approach to scientific investigation. Our aim is to awaken and inspire researchers to make contact with and respect their own questions and problems, to suggest a process that affirms imagination, intuition, self-reflection, and the tacit dimension as valid ways in the search for knowledge and understanding. We do not intend for this article to present a "how-to-do" focus. We believe that that competence and skill can be learned only through practice. We also do not plan to include summaries of completed heuristic research. A few such studies are included in our reference list (Craig, 1978; Jourard, 1968; Moustakas, 1975; Pearce, 1971. A list of the titles of heuristic studies completed by graduates of the former Merrill-Palmer Institute and the Center for Humanistic Studies in Detroit, Michigan are available through the senior author of this article.