The analysis of collective mindsets

Introducing a New Method of Institutional Analysis in Comparative Research

Bibliographic Data

ID5328804
AuthorsMarkus Pohlmann (Universität Heidelberg, Germany), Stefan Bär (0000-0003-4475-4579, Heidelberg University), Elizângela Valarini (0000-0003-2821-5540, Heidelberg University)
Year2014
Volume22
Issue52
Pages7-25
Publication date2014-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueRevista de Sociologia e Política (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0104-4478 • E-ISSN: 1678-9873
PublisherFapUNIFESP (SciELO) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1590/1678-987314225202
OpenAlexW2038913876
SCIELO_PIDS0104-44782014000400002
LanguageEN
Citations received12
References cited42

This article presents a specific qualitative method - the Collective Mindset Analysis (CMA) - that is applicable within the frame of institutional analysis to map the cognitive and normative institutions at work. The purpose of this paper is to introduce and discuss the method and its methodology as well. The paper will elaborate on how the method is applied to international research and will provide concrete examples drawn from a bigger research project on economic elites in eleven countries. It will demonstrate the steps of interpretation of interview material from this project with the help of CMA, using concrete text sequences. The sequences have been extracted from interviews with Brazilian top managers that were conducted in the context of an international research project. The paper will show, how an institutional approach, that is relying on the sociology of knowledge, can be supported by a method, that helps to reconstruct the cognitive and normative rules in a given culture and to analyze, how these rules are translated in action orientations to solve culturally significant problems. Thus, the method can be a remedy for the shortcomings of institutional analysis in mapping and comparing the knowledge stocks in different cultures and a new tool in international comparative research

Business · Cognition · Cognitive map · Context (archaeology) · Epistemology · Frame (networking) · Institutional analysis · Interpretation (philosophy) · Knowledge management · Management science · Mindset · Normative · Qualitative research · Research method · Social science · Sociology · Accounting and Organizational Management · Artificial Intelligence · Computer Science · Engineering · Innovation and Knowledge Management · Management and Organizational Studies · Psychology