Operationalizing Sustainability

5From Context to Knowledge: Basic Methodology Review

5.1. Application of abduction and retroduction to create knowledge [MEY 13]

To illustrate how abductive and retroductive reasoning works for the benefit of enhanced qualitative analysis, constructivists argue that meaning is constructed by humans as they engage with the world they are interpreting; meaning is not discovered but constructed [CRO 98]. The focus is on the manner in which researchers constitute theories in the act of describing them [MIR 01].

While this research is constructivist, we have employed abductive and retroductive inference because we recognize their utility as comprehensive tools that are both rarely mentioned in social research [DAN 97]. It reduces the complexity of how individuals think about the world around them, providing them with the capability to actively make decisions [PEA 05] as ways to pursue individual actions rationally [LUH 79].

Figure 5.1. Depicting the application of the two lines of inquiry; abduction and retroduction [SAM 13]

5.2. Analysis and synthesis as modeling process

Whatever the selected technique and scientific approach, modeling provides the rigor and formalism enabling deeper (structured) and broader (collaborative) analysis and synthesis of the situation in a complex system.

A great advantage offered by modeling is brought by the abstract representation of the system: abstraction ...