Creswell (2007) advised that interpretivism is often combined with social
constructionism (p. 20). Interpretivism helps to explain the social phenomena that
emanate from human behavior (Crotty, 1998, p. 66). Crotty referred to the goal of
interpretivism as being to develop culturally derived and historically situated
interpretations of the social world (p. 67). A good theory is an essential thread in
interpretive research: according to Myer (2009), and "in interpretivism, a good theory is
one that helps the researcher to understand the meaning and intentions of the people
being studied" (p. 40). This mix of the interpretivist and the constructionist paradigms
blend well for exploring the cross-cultural applications of self-leadership in globalized
settings and understanding the associated phenomena. The methodological assumptions
and rationale for why they were chosen will be expanded upon in Chapter III.