Dynamic Inquiry Relationships: Ways of Creating,Sustaining,and Improving the Inquiry Process Through the Recognition and Management of Conflicts

Abstract

From a social constructivist or relational point of view, knowledge is the outcome of interactions and relationships between the inquirers and the participants. These interactions and relationships are shaped by dynamic sociopolitical processes and go through conflicts and impasses. This implies that the quality of knowledge depends on the quality of the relational process in conducting a qualitative inquiry. In this article, the author indicates some notions that might be useful in improving this process. These involve the recognition and management of conflict. Conflict is understood here not as the absence of consensus but rather as the negation or exclusion of “otherness.” A case drawn from an evaluation study in which a conflict arose among the client, site workers, and the author as an evaluator forms the basis of this article. A thick description and interpretation of the conflict is presented.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Abma, T. A. (1994). Responsive evaluation: In conversation with its co-creators. Unpublished manuscript, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, Netherlands.

Abma, T. A. (1996). Responsief evalueren, Discoursen, controversen, and allianties in het postmoderne (Evaluating responsively, discourses, controversies, and alliances with/in the postmodern). Delft, Netherlands: Eburon.

Abma, T. A. (1997). Sharing power: Facing ambiguity. In L. Mabry (Ed.), Evaluation and the post-modern dilemma (Advances in Program Evaluation, No. 3, pp. 105-119). Greenwich, CT: JAI.

Bakhtin, M. M. (1984). Rebalais and his world. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.

Denzin, N. K. (1994). The art and politics of interpretation. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research (pp. 500-515). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Fine, M. (1994). Working the hyphens: Reinventing Self and Other in qualitative research. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research (pp. 70-82). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Fine, N. , & Macbeth, F. (1996). Playing with fire: The creative use of conflict. In M. Liebermann (Ed.), Arts approaches to conflict (pp. 36-67). London: Jessica Kingsley.

Fishman, D. B. (1992). Postmodernism comes to program evaluation: A critical review of Guba and Lincoln’s Fourth Generation Evaluation. Evaluation and Program Planning, 15, 263-270.

Gergen, K. J. (1994). The limits of pure critique. In M. Billig & H. W. Simons (Ed.), After postmodernism: Reconstructing ideology critique (pp. 58-78). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

10.

Gobey, F. (1996). Conflict, knowledge, and transformation: Three drama techniques. In M. Liebermann (Ed.), Arts approaches to conflict (pp. 26-35). London: Jessica Kingsley.

11.

Greene, J. C. (1997). Participatory evolution. In L. Mabry (Ed.), Evaluation and the post-modern dilemma (Advances in Program Evaluation, No. 3, pp. 171-190). Greenwich, CT: JAI.

12.

Guba, E. G. , & Lincoln, Y. S. (1989). Fourth generation evaluation. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

13.

Heap, J. L. (1995). Constructionism in the rhetoric and practice of Fourth Generation Evaluation. Evaluation and Program Planning, 18, 51-61.

14.

Janesick, V. J. (1994). The dance of qualitative research design: Metaphor, methodolatry, and meaning. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research (pp. 199-208). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

15.

Kensen, S. (1999). Sturen op variatie: Sociale vernieuwing en de Deeense variant als bronnen van inspiratie (Managing on diversity: Dutch social renewal and Danish local development as sources of inspiration). The Hague, Netherlands: VNG Uitgeverij.

16.

McNamee, S. , & Gergen, K. J. (1999). Relational responsibility: Resources for sustainable dialogue. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

17.

Stake, R. E. (1994). Case studies. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research (pp. 236-247). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

18.

van Dongen, H. (1991). Some notions on social integration and steering. In R. J. Veld , L. Schaap , C.J.A.M. Termeer , & M.J.W. van Twist (Eds.), Autopoiesis and configuration theory: New approaches to societal steering (pp. 47-54). Dordrecht, Netherlands: Kluwer.

19.

van Dongen, H. J. , de Laat, W.A.M. , & Maas, A.J.J.A. (1996). Een kwestie van verschil, Conflicthantering, en onderhandeling in een configuratieve integratietheorie (A matter of difference, conflict management, and negotiation within a configurative integration theory). Delft, Netherlands: Eburon.

20.

Wittgenstein, L. (1953). Philosophical investigations (G. Anscombe, Trans.). New York: Macmillan.