Pluralist Systemic Thinking for Researchers

This chapter conceptualises researchPluralist systemic thinking as a nonlinear journey influenced by a myriad of potential contextual forces. That journey is merely one facet of a researcher’s life, comprising experiences that occur at specific times, places, and circumstances; experiences that should be regularly recorded to provide a source of information for continual reflectionReflection/reflective learning. The contextual complexities surrounding the journey emerge because the researcher is human (influenced by their own contexts and identity as a researcher) undertaking research on, with, or about other humans (influenced by their own contexts, identities, and roles) and/or the handiworks they produce. Importantly, the researcher is not the sole owner, shaper, and experiencer of their research journeyResearch journey, others will exert influence and share an interest in its outcomes. Achieving convincingConvincing research outcomes benefits from pluralist systemic thinkingPluralist systemic thinking: pluralist - envisaging multiple potential pathways the research could follow; systemic - understanding contextual influences, feedbackSystems conceptsfeedback, and feedforwardSystems conceptsfeedforward. Importantly, the researcher is not the arbiter of what counts as convincingConvincing, that role resides in the various audiences/stakeholders with and for which the researcher aspires to share research outcomes. In this light, planning plays an important yet limited role, because some influences, constraints, and opportunities cannot be anticipated at the outset.