Developing the core principles of responsible knowledge management (rKM): Section 3.2.3 – Ensuring rigour and validity
This article is Section 3.2.3 of Chapter 3 of a series featuring my Master’s thesis The Emerging Concept of Responsible Knowledge Management (rKM): Identifying and Formulating the Core Principles of rKM.
As described in the previous sections, the analysis process begins with the integrative literature review (ILR) which, in curating the body of literature, serves as the umbrella method for sourcing and selecting articles relevant to researching the emerging concept of rKM, while grounded theory (GT) provides the logic and method for interpreting and theming the content of these sources. By drawing on the grounded theory principles throughout analysis, particularly the constant comparison of concepts across sources and sensitivity to the emerging patterns, this thesis aims to move beyond categorisation and toward a theoretically grounded framework that distinguishes rKM from KM, highlighting its more future-oriented dimensions.
Rigour and validity in qualitative research come through a reflexive approach to both data selection and its interpretation. In this thesis, reliability is reinforced through consistent criteria for source selection, designed to ensure that texts meaningfully contribute to understanding rKM, and through attention to the theoretical saturation process of GT.
The transparency of the coding process is supported by documenting how first-order analysis informs second-order themes1 and by ensuring that data categories are refined to the point of completeness, where new material can be consistently integrated into the existing structure2. To enhance validity, the thesis integrates multiple analytical perspectives, combining the broad synthesis of an ILR with the depth of grounded theory analysis, allowing for a more comprehensive and multidimensional examination of rKM.
The methodological choices in this research reflect a deliberate alignment between the ontological, epistemological, and analytical perspectives required to explore rKM, allowing the thesis to make a meaningful contribution to both the theoretical development and practical implications of rKM in the contemporary knowledge economy.
Whereas the Introduction Chapter highlighted the theoretical and empirical boundaries of rKM as an emerging field, the following addresses the methodological trade-offs of this thesis more directly. The limitations of this research stem primarily from its interpretive nature and the constraints of its data selection. As a qualitative study, the findings are inherently shaped by the researcher’s perspective, which, while grounded in established methodological rigour, remains a subjective interpretation of the available literature. The inductive approach, particularly in the grounded analysis of academic texts, allows for a nuanced exploration of rKM but does not claim to provide an exhaustive or definitive account of its conceptual boundaries. Additionally, the scope of the literature review is necessarily constrained by the selection of sources, focusing on academic publications from 2000 to 2025, drawn from Scopus and Google Scholar. While these databases provide a broad and reputable foundation, they do not encompass all potential perspectives.
The methodological choices of the thesis, the combination of integrative review and grounded analysis, emphasise depth over breadth, meaning that certain perspectives on knowledge responsibility may remain underexplored. Furthermore, as rKM is an emerging and evolving concept, the research captures its development at a particular moment in time, rather than offering a static or universally applicable framework. These limitations do not diminish the value of the thesis’s contributions but instead highlight the need for continued inquiry, validation, and theoretical refinement, encouraging future research to expand upon and critically engage with its findings across different contexts and methodologies.
As the concept of rKM continues to emerge, this thesis aspires to lay one of its early conceptual foundations. It is open to critique, refinement, and application across future studies.
Next part: Chapter 4 – Findings.
Article source: Koskinen, H. M. (2025). The Emerging Concept of Responsible Knowledge Management (rKM): Identifying and Formulating the Core Principles of rKM. (Master’s Thesis, LUT University).
Header image source: Created by Hanna M. Koskinen using ChatGPT.
References:
- Gioia, D. A., Corley, K. G., & Hamilton, A. L. (2013). Seeking qualitative rigor in inductive research: Notes on the Gioia methodology. Organizational Research Methods, 16(1), 15-31. ↩
- O’Reilly, K., Paper, D., & Marx, S. (2012). Demystifying grounded theory for business research. Organizational Research Methods, 15(2), 247-262. ↩
