ABSTRACT
Although in this collection we have asked authors to discuss interdisciplinary methodology through particular verbs, one cannot help but, or one is tempted to, touch also upon nouns. Specifically, the nouns that attach to the verbs valuing and validating can be presented as contrasting pairs which connote rather different practices, interests and arrangements. Thus, for Valuing we can compare value and valuation, and for Validating we can compare validity and validation. At base, the former term of each pair implies an ‘external’ or ‘objective’ relation by which some thing or some activity is judged against pre-given standards: value against market forces, validity against scientific or epistemological criteria. Conversely, the latter term of each pair – valuation and validation – points to an intersubjective or interactional relation in which some thing or some activity is assessed by means of standards and criteria. Thus, validation, say of a person’s work within an organization, might entail shared negotiation of criteria as to what is of worth; and valuation of a property might involve the situated weighting and juggling of criteria in the process of moving through a house, say, to come to a proposed money figure.
