Constructing trustworthy historical narratives: criteria, principles, and techniques

Gill, Michael J.; Gill, David James; Roulet, Thomas J.

Abstract

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.

Citation

Gill, M. J., Gill, D. J., & Roulet, T. J. (2018). Constructing trustworthy historical narratives: criteria, principles, and techniques. British Journal of Management, 29(1), 191-205. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8551.12262

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Aug 5, 2017
• Online Publication Date: Nov 8, 2017
• Publication Date: Jan 17, 2018
• Deposit Date: Sep 11, 2017
• Publicly Available Date: Nov 9, 2019
• Journal: British Journal of Management
• Print ISSN: 1045-3172
• Electronic ISSN: 1467-8551
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 29
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 191-205
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8551.12262
• Keywords: Narrative History, Naturalistic inquiry, Qualitative Research, Trustworthiness
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/905011
• Publisher URL: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1467-8551.12262/full
• Additional Information: This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Gill, M. J., Gill, D. J. and Roulet, T. J. (2017), Constructing Trustworthy Historical Narratives: Criteria, Principles and Techniques. Brit J Manage. doi:10.1111/1467-8551.12262 which has been published in final form at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1467-8551.12262/full This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving.