Andrew H. Van de Ven

“from a critical realist perspective that I adopt, there is a real world out there, but our attempts to understand it are severely limited and can only be approximated. This perspective argues that all facts, observations, and data are theory-laden and embedded in language. Moreover, most phenomena in the social world are too rich to be understood adequately by any single person or perspective. Consequently, any given theoretical model is a partial representation of a complex phenomenon that reflects the perspective of the model builder. No form of inquiry is value-free and impartial; instead each model and perspective is value-full. This requires scholars to be far more reflexive and transparent about their roles, interests, and perspectives when conducting a study than they have in the past.”
― Andrew H. Van de Ven, Engaged Scholarship: A Guide for Organizational and Social Research