Hello colleagues,
Following on from recent conversations on this list, some of you may be interested in a newly published paper – here is the abstract, I'd be happy to share the pdf if you contact me off-line. It's partly a development of ideas presented to the MSR group at an Academy meeting in Washington DC in... 2001... best wishes, scott
Uncertainty in the study of belief: the risks and benefits of
methodological agnosticism
Emma Bell and Scott Taylor
International Journal of Social Research Methodology 17(5)
The study of religious and spiritual beliefs raises complex epistemological and
methodological questions for interpretive social scientists concerning our ability
to understand the everyday lifeworlds that belief-based communities inhabit.
The primary focus of recent debates has been on the long-standing methodological
insider/outsider dynamic, defined in terms of religious belief or affiliation,
which intersects with other social categories such as gender or ethnicity. We
contribute to this debate by considering a relatively neglected position, methodological
agnosticism, which informs our study of religion and spirituality in the
workplace. We argue that an agnostic position can be methodologically productive
as a research strategy, but this must be counterbalanced by awareness of the
fieldworker risks, which include emotional distress and identity threats.
Agnosticism also encourages greater epistemological reflexivity as it implies
'not knowing' in relation to both metaphysics and social scientific knowledge
construction. Through this, we highlight the productive nature of uncertainty in
the study of belief as an epistemologically and methodologically constructive
standpoint.
Scott Taylor (Dr)
Reader in Leadership & Organization Studies, Birmingham Business School, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TY, UK
s.taylor@bham.ac.uk (+44) 0121 414 6703
http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/schools/business/departments/management/staff/profile.aspx?ReferenceId=57322&Name=dr-scott-taylor