Systems Practice, Vol. 7, No. 2, 1994 Knowledge Elicitation for Systems Practitioners: A Constructivist Application of the Repertory Grid Technique R. A. Stephens 1 and J. G. Gammack 2 Received April 1, 1993; revised October 27, 1993 This paper deals with the question of knowledge elicitation from a constructivist perspective. Repertory grids are examined as a means of exploring the perspectives of actors concerned with a problem situation. The issue of how to select a method to capture expert knowledge is dealt with and a practical application is provided of how the proposed approach might serve to inform the elicitor about the organization. KEY WORDS: information systems; knowledge elicitation; constructivism; con- structive interaction. 1. INTRODUCTION "Shared meaning, shared understanding and shared sense-making": In considering the cultural metaphor of organizations, Morgan (1986, p. 128) employs these terms to introduce his discussion on how organizational reality is created and sustained. The terms also serve as a methodological touchstone by researchers practicing interpretive, hermeneutic, or reflexive inquiry methods (e.g., Heron, 1981; Reason, 1988; Checkland, 1981; Stowell, 1993). The com- mon theme is the important role of communicative or linguistic interaction in the formation of organizational and social realities, whether they be in the work- place or the research environment. The essential methodological prescription is to focus on people's own interpretations of what they are about, rather than on tools and methods that pretend to give an objective account. In essence, we do not know, a priori, the relevant objects and distinctions in our field of inquiry. Understanding how people construe their world is the topic of knowledge elic- itation, and in this paper we discuss one method sensitive to this methodological challenge. ~University of the West of England, The Transputer Centre, Faculty of Computer Studies and Maths, Frenchay, Bristol BS16 IQY, England. 2University of Paisley, Department of Computing Science, High Street, Paisley PAl 2BE, Scotland. 161 0894-9859194/04004J161507.00/0 9 1994Plenum Publishing Corporation