Closure

Conceptual Overview and Discussion

Closure is a process with conceptual gradients attached to companion terms duration, ending, and resolution. By way of example, sporting events conclude when marked by the bell or whistle that signifies duration limit and the end of the event. Outcomes are determined by such rules or criteria that govern the activity, and resolutions or scores are entered into an official record under the appropriate statistical or outcome category. Once that event has terminated and the factual aspects of it are transformed into a data set, additional aspects of process may occur regarding incidents during the contest and stand as mythologized markers of the event. Depending on whether the contest was carried out with good or poor sportsmanship, fairly refereed or judged, replete with distinguishing behaviors or accomplishments (or lack thereof), and if the event carried large significance, for example, The World Cup of Soccer, resolution may not occur in spite of duration limit and end of contest. Residual markers of feats and follies as might be discussed at the next match would indicate that full closure is no more possible than full objectivity, as related events may invoke memory traces that open the event for reconsideration and reconstruction, [Page 150]such as new contexts for discussion and meaning-making provide.

Closure in case study research is more complicated than sporting events as the personal stakes of psychological well-being are involved. Research questions developed for use in case studies that take advantage of the variety of available methods are intended to introduce a topic or question for the purposes of eliciting a truthful, meaningful, and significant response that can be used to elaborate or buttress findings later on. Questions about soccer games may evoke a set of responses basically contained within the respondent's constellation of constructs pertaining to soccer. It would make a large difference if the respondent were a fan, or a member of the team primarily responsible for winning (or losing) the contest. Added meaning-value is present dependent on the proximity and level of investment of the participant in questions and issues posed for consideration.

Opinions of experiences are different from opinions derived from experience as are vantage points of observers and participant observers. Different forms and depths of psychological motion begin with reflection on experienced events depending on level of impact and potency of derived meaning for the participant. Residual issues arising from questions about a match posed to the fan would likely be transitory and short-lived. The same questions asked of the winning or losing players would carry a greater likelihood of residual effects. The span of intellectual, emotional, physical, and perhaps spiritual connotations and attributions covering the range between victory and defeat is vast and rich with signifiers of meaning and understanding.

...