CHAPTER 4 / THE MEANINGS OF METHODOLOGY 87 CHART 4.2 Science ‘Summary of Positivist Social 1. The purpose of social science is to discover laws. 2, Anessentialistview is that reality is empiically evident 3, Humans are rational thinking, individualistic mammal 4, Adeterministc tance is taken regarding human agency. 5._ Scientific knowledge sdiferent from and superior toall other knowledge, 6. Explanations are nomothetic and advance via deductive reasoning. 7, Explanations ae verified using replication by other researchers. Socal science evidence requires intersubjectivity. 19, An instrumental orientation is taken toward knowledge that is used from a technocratic perspective. 10, Social science should be value free and objective. precise techniques toward rigorous techniques in a “value-free” manner modeled on the natural sc ences, They created careful measures ofthe exter- nal behavior of individuals to produce quantitative data that could be subjected to statistical analysis Objectivism displaced locally based studies that \were action oriented and largely qualitative, It grew because competition among researchers for pre tige and status combined with other pressures, i cluding funds from private foundations (e.g., Ford Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, etc), univer- sity administrators who wanted to avoid unconven- tional politics, a desire by researchers for a public image of serious professionalism, and the informa- tion needs of expanding government and corporate bureaucracies, These pressures combined to rede- fine social research. The less technical, applied local studies conducted by social reformers (often women) were often overshadowed by apolitical, precise quantitative research by male professors in University departments." Decisions made during a large-scale expansion of federal government fund- ing for research after World War II also pushed the social sciences in a positivist direction, INTERPRETIVE SOCIAL SCIENCE Interpretive social science (ISS) can be traced to German sociologist Max Weber (1864-1920) and. German philosopher Wilhem Dilthey (1833-1911). In his major work, Einleitung in die Geisteswis- senshafien (Introduction to the Human Sciences) (1883), Dilthey argued that there were two funda- ‘mentally different types of science: Naturwis- senschaft and Geisteswissenschafi. The former is based on Erkliirung, or abstract explanation. The Jatter is rooted in an empathetic understanding, or Verstehen, of te everyday lived experience of peo- ple in specific historical settings. Weber argued that social science needed to study social action with a purpose. He embraced Verstelen and felt that we ‘must learn the personal reasons or motives that shape a person’s internal feelings and guide deci- sions to actin particular ways, We shall speak of “socal action” wherever human action is subjectively related in meaning tothe be havior of others. An unintended collision of rwo cy lists for example, shall not be called socal action. Bur we will define as such their possible prior at tempts to dodge one another ‘not the only kind of action significant for sociolos: ‘cal causal explanation, tit is the primary object of an “interpretive sociology” (Weber, 1981:159) Social action is Interpretive social science is related to hermeneutics, a theory of meaning that originated in the nineteenth century. The term comes from a Interpretative social science (SS). One of three ‘major approaches to social research that emphasizes ‘meaningful social action, socily constructed meaning, and vale relative, Verstehien A word from German that means em pathetic understanding that interpretative social sc- ence takes as a primary goal for socal research Hermeneutics A method associated with interpre- tative socal science that originates in religious and it~ ‘rary studies of textual material, in which in-depth ini into text and relating is parts to the whole can reveal deeper meanings88 —_PARTONE / FOUNDATIONS god in Greek mythology, Hermes, who had the job ‘of communicating the desires of the gods to mor- tals. It“Titerally means making the obscure plain’ (Blaikie, 1993:28), Hermeneutics is largely found in the humanities (philosophy, art history, religious studies, linguistics, and literary criticism), Item- phasizes a detailed reading or examination of tex, ‘which could refer toa conversation, written words, cor pictures. A researcher conducts “a reading” to discover meaning embedded within text, Each reader brings his or her subjective experience to a text, When studying the text, the researcher/reader tries to absorb or get inside the viewpoint it presents ‘asa whole, and then develop a deep understanding ‘of how its parts relate to the whole. In other words, true meaning is rarely obvious on the surface; one reaches it only through a detailed study of the text, contemplating its many messages, and seeking the connections among its parts.!? ‘There are several varieties of interpretive so- cial science (ISS): hermeneutics, constructionist, ethnomethodology. cognitive, idealist, phenome ological, subjectivist, and qualitative sociology." An interpretive approach is associated with the sym- bolic interactionist, or the 1920s-1930s Chicago, school in sociology. Iti often called a qualitative method of research. Interpretive researchers often use participant observation and field research. These techniques re~ quire that researchers spend many hours in direct personal contact with those being studied. Other ISS. researchers analyze transcripts of conversations or study videotapes of behavior in extraordinary de~ tail, looking for subtle nonverbal communication, tounderstand details of interactions in their context, ‘A positivist researcher will precisely measure se~ lected quantitative details about thousands of peo- ple and use statistics, whereas an interpretive researcher may live a year with a dozen people to gather large quantities of detailed qualitative data {o acquire an in-depth understanding of how they create meaning in everyday life. ‘Meaningful socal action Social action in social set ‘ings to which people subjectively attach significance, and thatinterpretative socal scence treats as beng the ‘most important aspect of social reality. Interpretive social science is concerned with how people interact and get along with each other. In general, the interpretive approach is the system- atic analysis of socially meaningful action through the direct detailed observation of people in natural settings in order to arrive at understandings and in terpretations of how people create and maintain their social worlds. The Questions 1. What isthe ultimate purpose of conducting so~ cial scientific research? For interpretive researchers, the goal of social ‘esearch i to developan understanding of social life and discover how people construct meaning in nat- ‘ural settings. An interpretive researcher wants to learn what is meaningful or relevant to the people being studied, or how individuals experience daily life. The researcher does this by getting to know a particular sociat setting and seeing it from the point ‘of view of those in it. The researcher shares the fee ings and interpretations ofthe people he or she stud~ ies and sees things through their eyes. Summarizing the goal of his 10-year study of Willie, arepair shop ‘owner ina rural area, interpretive researcher Harper (1987:12) said, “The goal of the research was to share Willie’s perspective: Interpretive researchers study meaningful so- cial action, not just the external or observable be havior of people. Social action isthe action to which people attach subjective meaning: itis activity with ‘purpose or intent, Nonhuman species lack culture and the reasoning to plan out things and attach pur- pose to their behavior; therefore, social Scientists should study what is unique to human social be- havior. The researcher must take into account the social actor’s reasons and the social context of ac- tion. For example, a physical reflex such as eye blinking is human behavior that is rarely an inten- tional social action (.e., done for a reason or with human motivation) but in some situations, itcan be such a social action (i.e..2 wink). More than simply having a purpose, the actions must also be social and “for aetion to be regarded as social and to be of interest to the social scientist. the actor must attach subjective meaning to it and it must be directed to-CHAPTER 4 / THE MEANINGS OF METHODOLOGY 89. wards the activities of other people” (Blaikie, 1993:37). Human action has litte inherent meaning, but it acquires meaning among people who share ‘meaning system that permits them to interpret the action as a socially relevant sign or action. For ex- ‘ample, raising one finger in a situation with other people can express social meaning: the specific ‘meaning it expresses (e-g.. a difection, an expres- sion of friendship, a vulgar sign) depends on the cul- ‘ural meaning system that the social actors share. 2. What is the fundamental nature of social reality? ‘The interpretive approach sees human social life as an accomplishment. It is intentionally cre ‘ted out ofthe purposeful actions of interacting so- cial beings. In contrast to the positivist view that social life is “out there” waiting to be discovered, ISS states the social world is largely what people perceive ito be. Social life exists as people experi cence it and give it meaning. Its fluid and fragile. People construct it by interacting with others in on ocesses of communication and negotiation ‘They operate on the basis of untested assumptions and taken-for- granted knowledge about people and ‘events around them, The interpretive approach holds that social life is based on social interactions and socially con structed meaning. People possess an internally ex- perienced sense of reality. This subjective sense of reality is crucial to grasp human social life. fn I “access to other human beings is possible, however, only by indirect means: what we experience initially are gestures, sound, and aetions and only in the process of understanding do we take the step from external signs to the underlying inner lie’ (Bleicher, 1980:9), In contrast to an essentialist orientation view, those with a constructionist orientation assume that the interactions and beliefs of people create re- ality, There isno inner essence that causes the real- ity people see; itis a product of social processes, For example, when you see a chair, there is no “chaieness” in it; rather, what you see as a chair arises from what a people of particular soviety de: Fine, accept. and understand tobe a chair. Wht you see as solid empirical reality is actually a fluid process of appearances that you have come to define as real. In general, what people see and experience is socially constructed. Do not think that because ‘what people see and experience is social constructed ‘makes it illusionary, immaterial, or unimportant. Once people accept social creations as being fact for as real, very real consequences follow. For ex- ample, if socially constructed reality tells me thatthe person moving into an apartment next to mine is ‘someone wha has committed violent crimes and car- riesa gun, [will behave accordingly, whether or not ‘my constructed belief its actual physical reality Forthe constructionist, people live in, believe, and accept the constructed reality that is linked to but distinct from physical reality. Essentialists say people live in the actual physical reality. ‘A constructionist notes that people take most things around them “for granted” and act as if they ere as natural, objective, and part of fixed reality For example, people accept that a week has 7 days. Very few people realize that a week could be very CSS mixes nomothetic and ideographic approaches, agrees with many of the criticisms the Interpretive approach directs at PSS, but itxdds some of its own and disagrees with ISS on some points, ‘This approach is traced to Karl Marx (1818-1883) Relativism A principle used in interpretative social science that no single point of view or value postion better than others, and all are equaly valid for those whe hod them, Critical soca science (CS5)_One of three maior ap: proaches to social research that emphasizes combating ‘suracelevel distortions, multiple levels of reality, and ‘vale-based activism for human empowerment CHART 4.3. Summary of Interpretative Social Science |. The purpose of socal science sto understand social meaning in context 2. Aconstructionist view that veaiyissocaly created 3. Humans are interacting social beings who create and rinforce shared meaning. 4. Avolntoristc stance is taken regarding human ageng. 5. Scientc knowledge is different from but no bette: than other forms. 6. Explanations are afographic and advance via inductive reasoning, 7. Explanations are verified using the postulate of ‘adequacy with people being stu. 8. Social scientific evidence is contingent, context spectic, and often requires bracketing. 9. Aprectical orientation is taken toward knowledge thats used from a transcendent perspective. 10. Social science should be relativistic regarding value positions and Sigmund Freud (1856-1939), and was elabo- rated en by Theodor Adorno (1903: 1960), Erich Fromm (1900-1980), and Herbert Mar- ceuse (1898-1979). Often, CSS is associated with conflict theory, feminist analysis, and radical psy- cchotherapy. IC is also tied to critical theory First de~ veloped ky the Frankfurt School in Germany in the 1930. Critical social science criticized positivist science as being narrow, antidemocratic, and non= humanist in its use of reason. This was outlined in Adorno’s essays. “Sociology and Empirical Research’ (1976a) and “The Logic ofthe Social Sci- ences” (1976b), The well-known living representa- tive of the school, Jurgen Habermas (1929), advanced critical social science in his Knowledge ‘and Hunvan fnterests (1971), Inthe field of educa tion, Freite’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed (1970) also {alls within the CSS approach. Another example is the French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu (1930-2002).!” Bourdieu rejected