Walking a tightrope: The ethical dilemma of rigour and/or relevance in interpretation-driven qualitative inquiry

In this paper I go beyond the conventional parameters of research ethics to address the ethical dilemmas of interpreting qualitative data. What I refer to as ‘ethics of interpretation’ necessitates the balancing of rigour and relevance within qualitative inquiry, which is underpinned by the researcher's epistemological and ethical stance concerning interpretation at a contingent level. I begin by suggesting a basic distinction between data-driven and interpretation-driven qualitative inquiry, premised on demystifying what constitutes bottom-up, data-drivenness. My discussion foregrounds the challenges qualitative researchers face in their everyday interpretive practices relating to raw data. In drawing attention to the ethical dilemma of ‘rigour and/or relevance’, I suggest that while qualitatively oriented applied linguistic researchers’ conceptual predispositions are likely to be aligned with rigorous methodological and analytical frameworks, the practical relevance of their research may not directly follow from such rigour. I elaborate on accomplishing rigour and relevance as a conjoined activity, and also consider the epistemological consequences surrounding the ‘imperative of eclecticism’ that qualitative researchers steer through in their ‘engazement’ with data. In conclusion, I urge for the affordance of critical reflexivity in our interpretive endeavour.