摘要：This paper reflects on the first author's attempts to adapt traditional social science meth-ods to her own purpose. The research involved developing a methodology to explore thesubjective career, concerned with people's internal, self-referential views of their unfold-ing career experiences. The paper describes a series of problems encountered alongthe way, stemming directly or indirectly from the rigidity of traditional science assump-tions. In contrast, the authors find encouragement in contemporary ideas about "new sci-ence," and its imagery of a self-organizing, non-linear and interdependent world. Thejourney leads to philosopher Paul Cilliers' principles of complex social systems, whichprovide an alternative, and more affirming, platform for the kind of research undertaken
