Developing a systemic textual analysis methodology based on the human activity system modelling language of soft systems methodology (SSM)

In: Systems research and behavioral science: the official journal of the International Federation for Systems Research, Volume 24, Issue 6, p. 599-612

Abstract

AbstractThe paper introduces a textual analysis methodology which utilizes a systemic concept and a modified version of the systems modelling language from soft systems methodology (SSM). For ease of reference, the methodology is referred to as the systemic textual analysis methodology (STAM). Following trends in hermeneutics and linguistics, STAM balances objective and subjective aspects of the process of textual analysis by using the notion of a 'recoverable' textual analysis. STAM can be used in a wide range of Management Science and qualitative research projects, but is presented in this paper in a form suitable for the analysis of texts which constitute formal descriptions of processes or methodologies. Such analysis supports critical evaluation of texts in terms of characteristics such as content, descriptive quality, logical structure, overall coherence and completeness. The basic tenet of STAM is that textual data can be represented as a set of activities, and therefore conceptualized as an activity system. STAM opetationalizes this approach in the form of a six‐step process. The paper includes a simplistic exemplification of STAM where it is used to analyze a short piece of text. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.