The Hobo to Doormen: The characters of qualitative analysis, past and present

Abstract

Types, roles, and individuals have collectively held a place in qualitative research alongside and at times within neighborhood and community studies but have not enjoyed systematization. This article examines how ‘characters’ have been, and can be, developed for sociological analysis. Moving from an abridged history of what I will call ‘character-focused study’ – from Simmel, Park, and Hughes to more contemporary work – this article proposes seven common emphases on display throughout 21 qualitative studies drawn from this tradition. The article concludes with a discussion of the potential ramifications ethnographers should consider when making the methodological choice to include characters in the research design and writing of their work.

Introduction to Special Issue: Figuring the Transforming City

“…In the history of social analysis, the analytic use of types, characters or other sociologically meaningful individuals has tended to oscillate between a myopic focus on the individual and the generation of abstract analytic generalizable “types.” As Wynn perceptively notes in a survey on the use of “characters” in sociology, the problem is quite straightforward: abstract “epistemic characters … provide theory without foundation and … empirical individuals may provide rich facts but no analytic power” (Wynn :536). In other words, there are two common theoretical moves, each with advantages and disadvantages.…”

“…The power and the limitations of “social types” becomes clear by following the role Simmel's concept played in Chicago School urban sociology, which flourished from 1917 to 1943 under the direction of Robert E. Park and Ernest Burgess. Park himself took courses with Simmel and always emphasized to his students the importance of analyzing “social types” (Deegan :11–25; Wynn ). In the Introduction to the Science of Sociology , which was known as the “Bible” for Chicago School ethnographers, Park and Burgess singled out the analysis of “the individual and the person” as one of five core methodological foci (Wynn :521).…”

“…Park himself took courses with Simmel and always emphasized to his students the importance of analyzing “social types” (Deegan :11–25; Wynn ). In the Introduction to the Science of Sociology , which was known as the “Bible” for Chicago School ethnographers, Park and Burgess singled out the analysis of “the individual and the person” as one of five core methodological foci (Wynn :521). Park contributed either a preface or an introduction to 17 books published by his students, six of which focused specifically on the study of a particular social types: The Hobo (Nels Anderson ), The Saleslady (Frances R. Donovan ), The Pilgrims of Russian Town (Pauline V. Young ), Negro Politicians (Harold F. Gosnell ), The Marginal Man (Everett V. Stonequist ), and Negroes in Brazil (Donald Pierson ) .…”

“…Park contributed either a preface or an introduction to 17 books published by his students, six of which focused specifically on the study of a particular social types: The Hobo (Nels Anderson ), The Saleslady (Frances R. Donovan ), The Pilgrims of Russian Town (Pauline V. Young ), Negro Politicians (Harold F. Gosnell ), The Marginal Man (Everett V. Stonequist ), and Negroes in Brazil (Donald Pierson ) . In Thomas and Znaniecki' influential book The Polish Peasant (1919), readers discover “the philistine,” “the bohemian,” and “the creative man” (Wynn :520). Even volumes focusing specifically on “places” rather than individuals often employed the use of “social types” to convey a sense of space, place, social life, mores and attitudes.…”

“…Even volumes focusing specifically on “places” rather than individuals often employed the use of “social types” to convey a sense of space, place, social life, mores and attitudes. In The Ghetto (1928), for example, Louis Wirth described “types” like the Zaddik, the Mashallik, the Meshumed, and the Schnorrer in ways that very much resonate with our emphasis on figures (Wynn :521).…”