Introduction

This introduction provides a short answer to the question “What is interpretative inquiry?” (A more elaborate answer will be provided in Chapter 2.) After addressing the “what” question, I will briefly address the “why” question: specifically, is a book on interpretative research needed? I will also address some of the criticisms and barriers to research in the interpretative tradition and provide some preliminary answers to the critics. The final section of the introduction presents the plan for the rest of the book.