2. Theory and Methodology

Compiled details about Theory and Methodology (Book information not included)

Qualitative

• Not/hardly quantifiable

• Most initial observations fall into this category

• More nuanced meanings

• Often ambigious

• Tends to be idiographic

• Tends to be inductive
  
  

Amount of information: limited
Depth of information: deep
Generalizability: difficult, no always the goal
Flexibility: flexible
Reliability: lower
Validity: higher
Processability: more difficult/slower

Methods:
Ethnography:

• non-intrusive observation

• participant observation

• intuitional ethnography

• online ethnography

Interviews:

• structured

• semi-structured

• narrative

• life-history

Other methods:

• focus group

• qualitative analysis

• historical document analysis

• visual content analysis

• discourse analysis

Quantitative

• Quantifiable

• Clearer, detailed, more understandable observations

• Easier to categorize, compare, summarize

• Tends to be nomothetic

• Tends to be deductive

Amount of information: extensive
Depth of information: superficial
Generalizability: possible if sampling done-well — it is a goal!!
Flexibility: rigid, standardized
Reliability: higher
Validity: lower
Processability: easier/faster

Methods:

• Survey-based research

• experiments

• analysis of administrative/big data

• quantitative content analysis

• machine learning (ML)

• large language models (LLM)

• social network analysis

• analysis data to see how connections work

Methods are often mixed, and can be:

Participatory — Collaborative research approach that combines systematic inquiry + action for social change, while engaging participants as co-researchers

Key characteristics:

• Actively involves community members for problems, results, data

• Action-oriented — understand & transform reality

• Reflexive on power dynamics

• Cyclical-iterative of planning, acting, observing, reflecting

Goals:

• Democratize knowledge production

• Empower marginalized groups

• Bridge the gap between research-real world impact

• Foster collective learning & sustainable solutions

Every method has: Unit of Analysis (UA)

• Individuals — sex, age, place of birth

  • e.g.: studying prejudice against immigrants among Hungarian adults

• Groups (=/= studying group members)

  • e.g.: mapping household saving patterns in Hungary

  • Systems → division of labor in households

  • Organizations → accessing technical equipment in primary schools

• Social products

  • Social objects — books, buildings, poems

    • e.g.: examining laws passed under state socialism from the point of view of family policy

  • Social interactions (marriage)

  • Life worlds, narratives, ideologies

Every method has: Analytical Framework (theory)

• Data collection & the framework of explanation — methodology & theory

• Framework of data collection must be clearly designed:

  • What exactly is considered the target population of the study?

• Every methodological choice is rounded in theoretical assumptions & shaped by a broader paradigm

• No theory → No definition → No measurement

Theory is…

Generalization abstracted from details — abstract from specific case → construct theory

Methodology is…

Comprehensive understanding of the research process → contextual, philosophical, ethical, political

Micro theory

• detailed descriptions

• doesn’t aim to generalize

• abstract representation of individual cases

• abstractions, no generalization

• same behaviour can have multiple explanations

• seeks to understand one specific case in-depth

Meso theory

• logically related statements

• guiding framework for empirical inquiry

• positioned between:

  • general theories of the social system

  • descriptive accounts that don’t generalize at all

• products of abstraction, still close enough to observed data

• focuses on specifics, bounded aspects of social phenomena

• five adaptive types
  
  

Theory then transitioned to a measurement → it gives the “why” + extra context!

“Meta-theory”/Macro

• history of ideas/theory history

• sociology of science

• tool for methodological self-reflection

• “when, why, how was the theory we used developed?”

Induction — generalizing from specific observed cases

• Particular to the general

• Observations

• Ethnographic fieldwork

  • Characteristics:

    • progresses from idiographic to nomothetic

    • advantage: openness, less influenced by preconcieved assumptions

    • risk: unique cases may not lead to middle-ranged theories

    • drawback: doesn’t produce falsifiable claims

    • “perfect induction” ONLY exists in mathematics

  • Example: homelessness

    • Data collection: talk, observe, conduct interviews from the homeless

    • Conclusion: summarize observations & experiences

Deduction — building a theory

• General to the specific

• Hypothesized

• Hypothesis testing

  • Characteristics:

    • nomothetic

    • hypothesis testing

    • can produce verifiable/falsifiable claims

    • risk of false assumption

    • risk of theoritical reductionism

  • Example: homelessness

    • Theory: construct the theory that “deviance is caused by a lack of supportive human relationships”

    • Hypothesis: the fewer relationships a person has, the more likely they become homeless

    • Measurement: define “homelessness” first to determine how to measure the presence/absence of supportive relationships → conduct a survey among employees of a company that employs both homless & non-homeless individuals

Idiographic and Nomothetic explanation

Idiographic = one case, in-depth

• Phenomenon in its uniqueness and depth

• Example: case studies, life history analysis

• Goal: explanation of a single case

Nomothetic = many cases, general rules

• Research explains the phenomenon using universal laws & patterns

• Example: positivist tradition

• Goal: general understanding