Beyond the mundane: reconciling breadth and depth in futures enquiry

For some time there has been a need within Futures Studies (FS) to develop methods which go beyond the dominant empirical tradition. For many years there has been a near-exclusive emphasis on understanding the external world 'out there'. But as time has gone by, so it has become clear that our ability to understand the world 'out there' crucially depends on an underlying world of reference that is 'in here'. Understanding the near-future environment calls for a combination of 'inner' and 'outer' views which, for example, give as much credence to judgment as to calculation. This paper considers a way of considering these very different ways of knowing'. Overall, the aim is to go beyond what might be termed 'mundane' analysis, i.e. that which is preoccupied with surfaces, and to open out a broader arena for futures enquiry. (C) 2002 Richard A. Slaughter. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.