ABSTRACT
Introduction In the early 1960s criticisms began to be levelled against many of the established, rule-governed methodologies adopted in science research. Perhaps Cronbach (1975) was the fi rst researcher to argue that our empirical research may be doomed to failure because we simply cannot pile up generalizations fast enough to adapt our treatments to the myriad of variables inherent in any given instance. More recently, Reeves (1995) argued that many time-honoured research methodologies have little social relevance precisely because they do not refl ect the real world messiness of everyday problems under investigation, and therefore offer minimal contributions to our disciplines. On this point, Reeves (1999) argues for ‘socially responsible’ research. Indeed, we live in a continually evolving world, comprised of human beings who are complicated, resulting in messy environments – or what Schön (1983) referred to as the swampy lowlands of professional practice.
