Dialectical Inquiry: A Structured Qualitative Research Method

Authors

Eli Berniker, Pacific Lutheran UniversityFollow
David E. McNabb, Pacific Lutheran UniversityFollow

Abstract

This paper presents Dialectical Inquiry (DI) as a structured qualitative research method for studying participant models of organizational processes. The method is applied to rich secondary anecdotal data on technology transfer, gathered by subject-matter experts in a large firm. DI assumes that the imposition of a dialectical structure will produce emergent theories in tacit use by organizational actors. As such, it serves as a meta-structure for grounded rese arch. Three competing models were discovered in the data. Each model was analyzed in the context of other models to reveal governing assumptions and counter assumptions. It is demonstrated that each model grasps essential truths, but is necessarily incomplete, and would fail due to internal contradictions. The internal and external validity of the results were tested in a manner consistent with qualitative research

Keywords

Technology Transfer, Dialectic, Organizational Sensemaking, and Metastructure

Publication Date

12-1-2006

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

DOI

10.46743/2160-3715/2006.1652

Recommended APA Citation

Berniker, E., & McNabb, D. E. (2006). Dialectical Inquiry: A Structured Qualitative Research Method. The Qualitative Report, 11(4), 643-664. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2006.1652