Some social scientists claim that only understanding is possible and that a
causal analysis is never possible. A classical example of the interpretive tradition
is Awareness of Dying, by Barney Glaser and Anselm Strauss (1965).
Glaser and Strauss were interested in the quality of dying of terminal
patients in a cancer ward.Which interventions in the care of these patients
would have a positive effect on the quality of dying? Who should tell the
patient that he or she is in the terminal stage of the illness – a doctor, a nurse
or a member of the family? What would be the effect of a straightforward
answer to the question of the patient: ‘Am I in the terminal stage?’ The data
gathering in this research project was done by participant observation by
researchers, disguised as members of the hospital staff. Note that the
research model closely resembles the research model used in SIA. The
researcher looks at the consequences of a current or future action.