The situated of the social scientist makes the study of governance dialogical. Positivists construe explanation as a unidirectional subject-object relationship. Their neglect of the constitutive role of meanings leads them to think of the social scientist as the only agent involved in crafting explanations. The objects of social science are just that – passive objects. In contrast, interpretive theorists think of explanation as involving a dialogue between social scientists and those they study. Social science involves an interaction in which scholars respond to the interpretations of the actors they study. This interaction with the beliefs of social actors always has the potential to send out ripples through their own beliefs, altering their understanding of their research agenda, the traditions in which they work, or their normative commitments.