ABSTRACT
According to Sören Kierkegaard (1996, pp. 63, 161), life is lived forwards and understood backwards. In this sense a retrospective research biography often appears to involve a logical development. Various influences seem to supplement each other in a consistent way. In the process of biographical reconstruction the degree of intentionality in the developmental pathways taken is frequently overestimated. The role of chance and of fortunate happenings recede into the background.
