Constructing trustworthy historical narratives: criteria, principles, and techniques
Organizational scholars increasingly recognize the value of employing historical research. Yet the fields of history and organization studies struggle to reconcile. In this article, we contend that a closer connection between these two fields is possible if organizational historians bring their role...
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| Format: | Article |
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Wiley
2018
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/45690/ |
| _version_ | 1848797174894166016 |
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| author | Gill, Michael J. Gill, David James Roulet, Thomas J. |
| author_facet | Gill, Michael J. Gill, David James Roulet, Thomas J. |
| author_sort | Gill, Michael J. |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Organizational scholars increasingly recognize the value of employing historical research. Yet the fields of history and organization studies struggle to reconcile. In this article, we contend that a closer connection between these two fields is possible if organizational historians bring their role in the construction of historical narratives to the fore and open their research decisions up for discussion. We provide guidelines to support this endeavor, drawing on four criteria that are prevalent within interpretive organization studies for developing the trustworthiness of research: credibility, confirmability, dependability and transferability. In contrast to the traditional use of trustworthiness criteria to evaluate the quality of research, we advance the criteria to encourage historians to generate more transparent narratives. Such transparency allows others to comprehend and comment on the construction of narratives thereby building trust and understanding. We convert each criterion into a set of guiding principles to enhance the trustworthiness of historical research, pairing each principle with a practical technique gleaned from a range of disciplines within the social sciences to provide practical guidance. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:59:41Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-45690 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:59:41Z |
| publishDate | 2018 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-456902020-05-04T19:27:04Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/45690/ Constructing trustworthy historical narratives: criteria, principles, and techniques Gill, Michael J. Gill, David James Roulet, Thomas J. Organizational scholars increasingly recognize the value of employing historical research. Yet the fields of history and organization studies struggle to reconcile. In this article, we contend that a closer connection between these two fields is possible if organizational historians bring their role in the construction of historical narratives to the fore and open their research decisions up for discussion. We provide guidelines to support this endeavor, drawing on four criteria that are prevalent within interpretive organization studies for developing the trustworthiness of research: credibility, confirmability, dependability and transferability. In contrast to the traditional use of trustworthiness criteria to evaluate the quality of research, we advance the criteria to encourage historians to generate more transparent narratives. Such transparency allows others to comprehend and comment on the construction of narratives thereby building trust and understanding. We convert each criterion into a set of guiding principles to enhance the trustworthiness of historical research, pairing each principle with a practical technique gleaned from a range of disciplines within the social sciences to provide practical guidance. Wiley 2018-01-17 Article PeerReviewed Gill, Michael J., Gill, David James and Roulet, Thomas J. (2018) Constructing trustworthy historical narratives: criteria, principles, and techniques. British Journal of Management, 29 (1). pp. 191-205. ISSN 1467-8551 Narrative History Naturalistic inquiry Qualitative Research Trustworthiness http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1467-8551.12262/full doi:10.1111/1467-8551.12262 doi:10.1111/1467-8551.12262 |
| spellingShingle | Narrative History Naturalistic inquiry Qualitative Research Trustworthiness Gill, Michael J. Gill, David James Roulet, Thomas J. Constructing trustworthy historical narratives: criteria, principles, and techniques |
| title | Constructing trustworthy historical narratives: criteria, principles, and techniques |
| title_full | Constructing trustworthy historical narratives: criteria, principles, and techniques |
| title_fullStr | Constructing trustworthy historical narratives: criteria, principles, and techniques |
| title_full_unstemmed | Constructing trustworthy historical narratives: criteria, principles, and techniques |
| title_short | Constructing trustworthy historical narratives: criteria, principles, and techniques |
| title_sort | constructing trustworthy historical narratives: criteria, principles, and techniques |
| topic | Narrative History Naturalistic inquiry Qualitative Research Trustworthiness |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/45690/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/45690/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/45690/ |