Chapter 8 - Explanation as Science (or Art?)

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.