Theorizing in Qualitative Research

A Cultural Studies Perspective

Bibliographic Data

ID2387347
AuthorsP Alasuutari (0000-0003-4111-9641, University of Tampere)
Year1996
Volume2
Issue4
Pages371-384
Publication date1996-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueQualitative Inquiry (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1077-8004 • E-ISSN: 1552-7565
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/107780049600200401
OpenAlexW1990652940
LanguageEN
Citations received23
References cited20

This article discusses the interplay between empirical research and theory in constructionist or cultural studies qualitative research. In cultural studies, theories are seen as different frameworks, not as universal theories about social mechanisms. That is why instead of generalizing understandings, cultural studies and other constructionist approaches aim to particularize understandings of the social. The latter implicates the local, while the former indirectly aims to obviate the local. Instead of assuming that any corner of social reality leads to the traces of some universals to be pointed out in the final analysis, in cultural studies a case study is understood to reveal a local and historically specific cultural or "bounded" system. Because more generally applicable theories are seen differently in this framework, theorizing also assumes another form, which is discussed in the light of concrete examples from the author's own fieldwork

Cultural analysis · Culture theory · Empirical research · Epistemology · Perspective (graphical · Problem of universals · Qualitative research · Social constructionism · Social science · Sociology · Strict constructionism · Anthropology · Computer Science · Cultural Studies · Philosophy · Qualitative Research Methods and Ethics

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