Truth Seeking AND Sense Making: Towards Configurational Designs of Qualitative Methods

Abstract

Within the qualitative social sciences, we can detect a wide gulf between those who strive for revealing “the truth” about the social world on the one hand and those whose goal is to “make sense” of it on the other. The former apply methods which are implicitly or explicitly rooted in positivist or realist epistemologies and ontologies whereas the latter apply methods based on constructivist or interpretative epistemologies and ontologies. Some of the characteristic expressions of this gulf can be found in the work of Goertz and Mahoney who exclude interpretative approaches in their characterization of qualitative research. This is mirrored by Yanow who insists on the distinctiveness of interpretative research. Nevertheless, a closer view reveals that on both sides, among ‘truth-seekers’ and among ‘sense-makers,’ we find quite distinct research goals, epistemological principles, and ontological presumptions, as well as a broad spectrum of methods of data collection/creation and methods of data analysis/interpretation. The major claim of the following contribution is that the internal diversity within both camps makes it possible to develop a plurality of coherent qualitative methods which allow to strive for truth-seeking and sense-making at the same time.