FIMS Publications
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2010
Volume
80
Issue
3
Journal
Library Quarterly
First Page
267
URL with Digital Object Identifier
DOI: 10.1086/652876
Last Page
284
Abstract
The need for postpositivist or antipositivist methods in the social sciences, including library and information science, is well documented. A promising alternative synthesizes critical realism and phenomenology. This method embraces ontological reality in all things, including human and social action. The ontology underlying the realist phenomenological approach recognizes, following Bhaskar, intransitive and transitive objects of knowledge (mind‐independent reality and individual and social perceptions of that reality). The synthesis encompasses some particular elements, including perceptions of parts and wholes, the reconciliation of presence and absence, and the essential character of intentionality. Withholding judgment (exercising a particular kind of skepticism) enables inquirers to delve into the historicity and background of action. Potential uses of the method are manifold; some specifics are examined here.
Citation of this paper:
John M. Budd, Heather Hill, and Brooke Shannon, "Inquiring into the Real: A Realist Phenomenological Approach," The Library Quarterly 80, no. 3 (July 2010): 267-284.
