ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the interpretive gestalt as grounding for understanding the interpretive criteria literature. It presents a set of criteria developed inductively, of value for its brevity, for its historical specificity, and for its connections to interpretive research practices and purposes. These criteria offer those working within an interpretive gestalt a starting point for discussion of research quality that should be tied, ultimately, to the specifics of the research question under consideration. The chapter reviews some classic texts that launched the development of the interpretive criteria literature. It then examines the evolving debate on how best to think about criteria for interpretive research. The chapter focusses on the broader framework of epistemic communities and the burden of scholarly judgment. Negative case analysis, like informant feedback or member checks, is aided by reflexivity and, particularly, by the use of a reflexive journal to examine self-other relations as well as the researcher's evolving understandings of purpose and theory.
