Conceptual Underpinnings of the Methodological Strategy
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Analysis of the truth claims of data by any method should rest on its conceptual
underpinnings. As persuasively argued by Rescher (1992), knowledge development is
itself a practice, the study of which is the domain of epistemology. Rescherian epistemology
further isolates two interconnected cycles of practice underlying knowledge
development, thus allowing us to categorize different approaches. The first one is a
theoretical cycle which seeks to maintain internal consistency among theoretical ideas,
or “theoretical self-substantiation.” The second, an applicative cycle, seeks “pragmatic
validation” external to theory. Rescher underscores the tension between the two cycles,
and maintains that in any vibrant domain of inquiry, the overall legitimization of a
methodology for the substantiation of our factual beliefs must unite the two distinct
cycles, one toward a systematic coherence at the theoretical level, and the other toward
pragmatic validity at the empirical level. See Figure 1(a) for a graphical representation of
the cycles.
Systematizing
Methodology
System of Validated
Knowledge
Theoretical Controls
of Self-Substantiation
Pragmatic Controls of
Empirical Efficacy
Theoretical Cycle
Empirical Cycle
Figure 1. Rescherian epistemology applied to validation
(a) Two-fold cycle of the legitimization of systemizing methodology (Adapted from
Rescher, 1992)
In this study we engage the two-fold cycle to develop a system of validated knowledge
regarding OO software development expertise. In the theoretical cycle we develop
theories of OO software development from revealed causal maps (RCMs) of OO experts.
In the applicative cycle we compare the findings from the causal maps with those
obtained from survey respondents.