Page 69 - Sustainable Cities and Communities Design Handbook

46 Sustainable Cities and Communities Design Handbook

Research results are analyses that check the results and provide verification
to provide useful written descriptions. This entire process is what Blumer
(1969) describes as the “symbolic interactionist perspective.” The basic
assumption for the symbolic interactionism is that actors interact with one
another and form relationship with others. However, each actor also interacts
with himself or herself. In short, the actor reflects and contemplates his or her
actions. Blumer calls this thinking process, the “generalized other,” because
actors do this all the time: they think, reflect, think again, act, think, and
continue to move ahead. In other words, Blumer provides a theoretical
framework for understanding intuition when seen as part of an actor’s inter-
action with others.
For the business person, the result of qualitative research can be a strategic
plan of action. Even though anthropologists rarely do any analysis or pre-
diction with their data, the business person can. In particular, anthropologists
never forecast, predict, or explain situations and cultures. They try not to
influence the local culture in any way. This nonaction model has come under
considerable criticism but is considered by anthropologists as following the
natural scientific method: objectivity. A business person would develop an
“action plan” and move on it immediately. The business person would want to
see the needs of the culture and fulfill them. In many cases, the business person
has the vision of a concept for the future economic development of the culture
and will act upon it. Typically, the business persons will “carry through” or
“follow-up” on their analysis of the culture because they see a business
opportunity, can set goals, and create performance objectives.

TRANSFORMATIONAL LINGUISTICS: ECONOMIC RULES
OF FORMALISM IN BUSINESS PRACTICES

The entire qualitative approach is the process of symbolic interaction at work.
It also sets the stage for understanding how actors interact and create universal
concepts that can be applied in a variety of situations. The underlying rules
that explain the action of the actors can then follow the linguistic paradigm
outlined by Chomsky (1957) so that the explanation of interaction is seen in
the formation of rules.
Linguistics uses a qualitative methodology to identify sources of data such
as native speakers/hearers of a language. Sentences are created and repeatedly
tested against those of native speakers. Underlying the transformational
grammar approach to linguistics is the assumption that languages have
universal characteristics. The task of linguistics is to identify and derive the
grammar for a language. Data are collected and comparisons are made to other
languages. However, linguistics (and now cognitive psychologists) have found
that native speakers/hearers do know rules and representations of their own
language. They know what sounds right and correct.