The Research Act: A Theoretical Introduction to Sociological Methods

373 Pages·1978·28.36 MB·English

by  Norman K. Denzin

The Research Act
The Research Act
A Theoretical Introduction
to Sociological Methods
Second Edition
Norman K. Denzin
University of Illinois, Urbana
McGRAW-HILL BOOK COMPANY
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Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Denzin, Norman K.
The research act.
Bibliography: p.
Includes Index.
I. Sociology-Methodology. 2. Sociological
Research. I. Title.
HM 24.D44 1978 301 '.01 '8 78-4872
ISBN 0-07-016361-8
THE RESEARCH ACT
A Theoretical Introduction to Sociological Methods
Copyright © 1978 by McGraw-Hill, Inc. All rights reserved. Copyright © 1970 by
Norman K. Denzin. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part
of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any
form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,
without the prior written permission of the publisher.
1234567890 FGRFGR 78321098
This book was set in Times Roman by Black Dot, Inc.
The editors were Donald W. Burden, Lyle Linder, and Susan Gamer;
the cover was designed by Charles A. Carson;
the production supervisor was Dominick Petrellese.
Fairfield Graphics was printer and binder.
See Acknowledgments for Quotations on pages 355-356. Copyrights are included on this
page by reference.
Contents
Preface vii
1 THE INTERACTIONIST PERSPECTIVE AND THE
PROCESS OF THEORY CONSTRUCTION
1 A Point of View 3
2 Sociological Theory 36
2 THEORY TO METHOD: STRATEGIES FOR
OBSERVING, SAMPLING, RECORDING, AND
INTERVIEWING
3 Naturalistic Inquiry 77
4 The Sociological Interview 112
3 THEORY TO METHOD: RESEARCH STRATEGIES
5 The Experiment and Its Variations 137
6 The Social Survey and Its Variations 157
7 Participant Observation: Varieties and Strategies of the
Field Method 182
8 The Comparative Life History Method 214
9 Unobtrusive Measures: The Quest for Triangulated and
Nonreactive Methods of Observation 256
4 TRIANGULATION AND THE DOING OF
SOCIOLOGY
10 Strategies of Multiple Triangulation 291
11 On the Ethics and Politics of Sociology 308
References 337
Acknowledgments for Quotations 355
Indexes 357
Name Index
Subject Index
v
Preface
In this book and its companion, Sociological Methods (2d edition, McGraw
Hill, 1978), I offer a symbolic-interactionist view of sociological theory and
research methodology. If sociologists are to bridge the gap that exists between
their methods, their theories, and their areas of substantive expertise, they
must adopt a common theoretical frame that judges these activities from the
same perspective. Symbolic interactionism-which stresses the self-reflexive
nature of everyday and scientific conduct-provides such a frame, for it
proposes that the research act is, itself, an instance of symbolic interaction.
The sociologist, like everyday interactants, organizes conduct on the basis of
negotiated, sometimes unpredicted events. The research act revolves around
such interactions, and they constitute a continual focus of this second edition
of The Research Act.
This edition carries forth the themes of the first edition, giving greater
emphasis to the logic of the naturalistic method of inquiry and stressing more
forcefully the logic of the historical and comparative method. Standard meth
odological issues involved in sampling theory and statistical measurement are
given less attention in this edition.
It is hoped that the perspective and problems treated in this book will shed
new light on old issues and will lead sociologists to better link their vague
images of reality with those research activities that bring theory and method
back together again. The "new sociology," if there is to be one, will weave
these elements of the research act into a single fabric, and that fabric will join
the sociological community with the diverse worlds of human interaction.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I wish to thank the following people for their assistance, comments, and
suggestions: Catherine Daubard, Irwin Deutscher, William Filstead, Susan
Gamer, Richard J. Hill, Lyle Linder, Peter Manning, Alexander J. Morin, and
Julian Roebuck. Conversations with Norbert Wiley influenced my entire
conception of the research act; they are hereby acknowledged.
Norman K. Denzin
vii
The Research Act
Continuous advance in science has been possible only when analysis of
the objects of knowledge has supplied not elements of meanings as the
objects have been conceived but elements abstracted from those mean
ings. That is, scientific advance implies a willingness to remain on terms
of tolerant acceptance of the reality of what cannot be stated in the
accepted doctrine of the time, but what must be stated in the form of
contradiction with those accepted doctrines.
George Herbert Mead
In Creative Intelligence: Essays in the Pragmatic Attitude, p. 173.
The most important advice I can give the contemporary sociologist has
nothing to do with the validity of my arguments. It is this: you do not have
to believe anything about theory and methodology that is told you
pretentiously and sanctimoniously by other sociologists-including my
self. So much guff has gotten mixed with the truth that, if you cannot tell
which is which, you had better reject it all. It will only get in your way. No
one will go far wrong theoretically who remains in close touch with and
seeks to understand a body of concrete phenomena.
George Caspar Romans
In Handbook of Modern Sociology, pp. 975-976.
Part One
The Interactionist
Perspective and the
Process of Theory
Construction
Chapter 1
A Point of View
Nor is it enough to say that research and theory must be married if sociology is to bear
legitimate fruit. They must not only exchange solemn vows-they must know how to
carry on from there. Their reciprocal roles must be clearly defined.
Robert K. Merton (1967, p. 171)
We can, and I think must, look upon human life as chiefly a vast interpretative process in
which people, singly and collectively, guide themselves by defining the objects, events, and
situations which they encounter. ... Any scheme designed to analyze human group life in
its general character has to fit this process of interpretation.
Herbert Blumer (1956, p. 686)
The sociological enterprise rests on three interrelated activities: theory,
research, and substantive interest. The current state of the discipline reflects
this three-part division. Texts, monographs, and readers respectively display
concern for theory, research methods, and substantive speciality, whether that
speciality be deviance, family sociology, medical sociology, social psychology,
education, or race and ethnic relations. This division has created unfortunate
consequences for the discipline of sociology. It has produced a breach between
these inseparable components of the sociological act. Theory cannot be judged
independently of research activity. Research methods are of little use until they
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