The intent of Interpreting Disability is to provide students of qualitative inquiry with exemplars of interpretivist research in its published form. Interpretivist research ascribes to a paradigm that views reality as a created phenomenon rather fixed or objective, and holds, consequently, that truth and reality change as a function of social interpretation. This being the case, quantitative research strategies, restricted by tenets of objectivity, are inadequate for studying the richness of human culture.
Interpretivist researchers claim to be as rigorous and systematic as quantitative researchers.
The latter, according to the authors, is the goal of objectivist researchers who fail to account for the multiple realities of social constructions. Because of its emphasis on created or intentional reality, and its focus on discovering the multiple perspectives of all the players in a social setting, the authors believe interpretivist research is better suited for giving voice to persons with disabilities who tend to be devalued by our society. The multiple examples provided in Interpreting Disability are intended to illustrate the fact that interpretivist research can use a multiple methods of data collection, can have multiple research purposes and designs, and can be presented in a variety of styles. This goal has certainly been accomplished. For example, the fourteen studies used present readers with participant observations and interview methods, with case studies and action research, and with formal structure as well as narrative dialogue.