Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-r6qrq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-26T19:04:36.327Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Chapter 8 - Explanation as Science (or Art?)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 December 2022

Eric W. K. Tsang
Affiliation:
University of Texas, Dallas
Get access

Summary

The terms “inference to the best explanation” and “abduction” are often used interchangeably. Yet inference to the best explanation is concerned mostly with the choice of explanations by researchers based on their findings generated from data and is supposed to be in the last stage of an empirical study. In contrast, abduction is about formulating hypotheses and selecting the more promising ones to test before or after data collection, and thus corresponds to an earlier stage of inquiry. Given a set of data collected on a phenomenon, there are no systematic steps for reaching the best explanation for the phenomenon. That said, this concluding chapter suggests seven heuristics derived from Chapters 5 to 7, aimed at assisting management researchers to explain their findings. Constructing an explanation involves a great deal of judgement and decision making as well as requires imagination and intuition. The process arouses a variety of feelings and emotions. In short, explaining management phenomena is not just a scientific endeavor but also an art.

Type
Chapter
Information
Explaining Management Phenomena
A Philosophical Treatise
, pp. 203 - 212
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×