Author Intentionality

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Conceptual Overview and Discussion

Author intentionality may be declared, implied, or inferred depending on what authors choose to reveal about themselves or their motivation that might provide added value to understanding aspects of the approach to problem conception and formulation.

In declared intentionality, the author openly professes orienting perspectives that underlie rationale, problem-posing, or methodology. A declaration such as “I teach learning disabled kids in a public school, am studying cognition, and want to learn more about the poor reading skills of young males” made as part of an introduction or in a biographical note gives the reader an inside track. Detectable in the declaration are the author's profession, professional interests, and location of work as well as likely qualifications, educational background, and current academic status, in addition to the guiding practical assumption for the main question (i.e., poor reading).

Implied intentionality is less obvious than declared intentionality and follows implicit orientations that are consistent with guidance from a superordinate authority, such as discipline or department expectations might require. If an author is a member of a predominantly behaviorist academic environment, conducts research, and publishes articles in behaviorist journals that invoke principles and practices consistent with behaviorism, it may be assumed that the author is most likely a behaviorist and that the intentionality of her or his research leans in that direction.

Inferred intentionality involves a hermeneutic or interpretative reading of materials where little may be known of the author, such as might occur when referees provide blind reviews for journals or when new scholars encounter names unknown to them. Text in the context of declared or implied intentionality carries both message and messenger. Text without context, or message without messenger, can be judged by the reader only from her or his prior knowledge and on the merits of the text itself. Making the intentions for a particular choice of research topic or approach obvious does not imply any measure of quality or insight.

Author intentionality can be derived from an expressed or felt social or personal need, findings from a needs assessment, response to a funded call for proposals, or simply heeding the call to publish or perish; all give rise to initiation of research and the engagement of authors. Author intentionality is a double-edged sword in that a champion is often required to bring needed research to the attention of the scholarly community and investigative fruition, but excessive advocacy can represent the same dilemma as experimenter bias in quantitative research in that confounds or alternative explanations of circumstances and findings may not receive the balanced treatment required for robust conclusions. Subjective-objectivity or objective-subjectivity are more than semantic twists and represent a state that many researchers strive for and never quite reach. By virtue of conceiving and undertaking a research project, the attention and subsequent investment of time, energy, and other expenditures create a vested interest on the part of the researcher.

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