Interpretive Social Research

Abstract

Gabriele Rosenthal: Interpretive Social Research principle "to present complex ideas as clearly and simply as possible". For many years now, I have been conducting research in countries in the Global South (see Rosenthal 2016 a; Rosenthal / Bogner 2017a), and have of necessity adapted my own methodological approach; for instance, I have used different data collecting methods depending on the nature of the field, ease of access to the field, or the chances of gaining knowledge in various research contexts. I have increasingly employed a combination of different methods (Rosenthal 2016 b), including methods that are not discussed in this book, such as group discussions. I would therefore like to emphasize that although different methods for collecting and analyzing data are distinguished in this book, I do not intend to suggest that it is necessary to choose just one method in any given research process. Over the years, many colleagues have commented on different chapters. I am extremely grateful for all their critical suggestions. I would also like to thank all the students whose research I have supervised, and who have constantly confronted me with a dilemma that can be expressed in the form of two questions: To what extent are "recipe instructions" helpful? And when do such prescriptions stand in the way of scientific creativity and sensitive handling of the special features of a particular case? From participating in the work of my colleagues, especially in the joint interpretation of their empirical data, not only have I gained insights into very different social settings or lifeworlds, but I have also learned more in respect of methodology than I am probably aware of. My thanks also go to all those who have helped me with the production of this English edition, in particular by updating the anglophone literature and seeking out English translations of the classic texts cited:

Child Soldiers in Context

“…In addition to discourse analyses of material from the print media, we focused primarily on making detailed case reconstructions, both on the level of individual biographies and on the level of the family (Rosenthal 1995(Rosenthal , 2018. Additional data were also analyzed using a sequential and reconstructive method (Reichertz 1986;Rosenthal 2018). A text analysis perspective also played a role in our analysis of the material, in which we sequenced the transcripts according to the criterion of the textual sorts used (see Rosenthal 2018: chapter 6).…”

“…In a similar way the responsibility or guilt of the LRA leaders toward the civilians abducted, forcibly recruited, enslaved, killed or wounded by them is often mentioned only implicitly (or assumed) and is not discussed in the proper sense of the word in the media and the academic literature. 6 Our analyses in respect of the prevailing discourses, the experienced past, and living in the present with this past, are based on biographical-narrative and focused narrative interviews (see Rosenthal 2003Rosenthal , 2018Schuetze 2008) and group discussions with former child soldiers who have now reached adulthood, with members of their families and of the non-abducted civilian population, and with experts from NGOs. The interviews and group discussions were conducted by Artur Bogner and Gabriele Rosenthal in the course of four joint field trips generally lasting about two months in the period between the summer of 2011 and January 2016.…”

Gondozói migráció és és nemi szerepfelfogások

“…Ezen a ponton joggal merül fel az a módszertani kérdés, hogy lehetséges-e megragadni a nemi szerepek változását, amennyiben az interjú egy adott időpillanatban készül, és a válaszadó a jelen perspektívájából számol be arról, hogy miként gondolkodik vagy gondolkodott a nemi szerepekről. Noha az egykori vélekedések irányított kérdésekkel nehezen mérhetők (és ahogy arra röviden kitértünk, erre egy több hullámban folytatott adatfelvétel sem lenne tökéletesen alkalmas), a narratív biográfiai elemzés módszerének (Rosenthal, 2018) segítségével, a személyes történeteken keresztül feltárhatók ezek az eltérések.…”

“…A narratív biográfiai elemzés módszere (például Kohli, 1986;Fischer-Rosenthal, 2000;Rosenthal, 2018) további segítséget nyújthat a nemi szerepek alakulásának értelmezésében. Az elemzési technika 15 elkülöníti a megélt életeseményeket az azokról való elbeszéléstől, amelyeket az adott társadalmi kontextusban vizsgál.…”

Ethnographic research method for psychological and medical studies in light of COVID ‐19 pandemic outbreak: Theoretical approach

“…Showing genuine interest in participants and doing what the researcher can do to make the other person socially comfortable are very important priorities in ethnographic research, in particular, and qualitative research, in general. Therefore, when conducting the interview, the researcher must choose a place where the participants can relax and speak openly, and the researcher should also ensure that the participants know that the interview forms part of the research data (DeWalt & DeWalt, 2002;Measor, 1985;Ragin, 1994;Rosenthal, 2018). If the participants do not want the researcher to record the interview, he should take sufficient time after the interview to write more complete notes about what was said by the participants (Measor, 1985;Schwartzman, 1993;Wolcott, 1999).…”