Fotsch+-+Interpretivism

Interpretivism Home Fotsch's Interpretivism Page

Example #1 - __Lessons from the Wisconsin Athletic Club__ This example is a two-for-one special. I have a personal trainer who teaches me new exercises and gets on my case. I am also an avid spinner. Steve, my trainer, is very objective when he prescribes the number of hours for cardiovascular activity. He says that I should do four hours per week - I think three and one-half hours is plenty. Is one of us more correct than the other? Probably not. Additionally, in spin class, the instructor uses a 1-10 scale of perceived exertion. 1 is sitting still; 10 is the hardest physical activity you've ever done. It's completely subjective, yet orderly because it uses the numbers 1-10. I prefer the instructor to say "your heart rate should be 85% of your max." That is concrete - and positivistic.

Example #2 - __**Triage**__ Triage is the process used in an emergency room to identify and classify injuries. This determines who gets treated first. Therefore, one would assume that a child who cannot breathe would be treated long before a person with a sprained ankle. The entire system is based on interpretivism. There is a set of criteria for identifying the level of triage; however, the persons giving and receiving the answers are subjective. Pain means different things to different people and a bump on the head could be a concussion or the cause of a brain bleed. Schein would probably say that in order to accurately triage patients, both patients and hospital employees should have an understanding of each other's cultures. He is right, but this is fairly impossible to achieve.

Example #3 - **__Pre-Roman Religion__** In Italy, near a town called Lavinium, there is a row of 13 altars. Scholars debate the reason for the linear formation of all 13 altars and there is evidence to support the fact that at least one of them was dedicated to Castor and Pollux. Adrian Nicholas Sherwin-White claims that the linear formation indicates that the different tribes in this region came together to form a common sanctuary. This archaeological site can be viewed interpretivistically because the order of the sanctuary is incredibly obvious - it was a place of workship for the gods. However, the scholarly analysis is subjective. We cannot necessarily determine exactly how long this space functioned or which tribes contributed to this religious space. The altars date to the 700s B.C. Archaeologists are missing the tacit knowledge that Weick, Cook, and Yanow refer to because we cannot participate or view this organization in its context. We can only see the artifcats; therefore, it is hermeneutical and we can interpret meaning from what is there.