Biographical research

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Biographical research is a qualitative research approach aligned to the social interpretive paradigm of research. The biographical research is concerned with the reconstruction of life histories and the constitution of meaning based on biographical narratives and documents. The material for analysis consists of interview protocols (memorandums), video recordings, photographs, and a diversity of sources. These documents are evaluated and interpreted according to specific rules and criteria. The starting point for this approach is the understanding of an individual biography in terms of its social constitution. The biographical approach was influenced by the symbolic interactionism, the phenomenological sociology of knowledge (Alfred Schütz, Peter L. Berger, and Thomas Luckmann), and ethnomethodology (Harold Garfinkel). Therefore, biography is understood in terms of a social construct [1] and the reconstruction of biographies can give insight on social processes and figurations (as in Norbert Elias), thus helping to bridge the gap between micro-, meso-, and macro- levels of analysis. The biographical approach is particularly important in German sociology. [2] This approach is used in the Social Sciences as well as in Pedagogy and other disciplines. The Research Committee 38 "Biography and Society" [3] of the International Sociological Association (ISA) was created in 1984 and is dedicated "to help develop a better understanding of the relations between individual lives, the social structures and historical processes within which they take shape and which they contribute to shape, and the individual accounts of biographical experience (such as life stories or autobiographies)". [4]

Contents

History

Biographies, including autobiographies, have always contained a sociological dimension since their advent in the Antiquity (Plutarch). For the most part of the usage of this notion, biographers dealt with outstanding individual personalities (such as politicians and artists) but there were also exceptions, such as Ulrich Bräker's autobiography, "The Poor Man of Toggenburg" (Der arme Mann im Toggenburg). The emergence of Sociology influenced an approach to biography that extended this notion beyond the individual dimension, such as the works of Alphons Silbermann on the life of the composer Jacques Offenbach and Norbert Elias on the life of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. [5]

Biography as a form of access to larger groupings

The biographical method as a research approach to understand larger groupings was used as sociological material by Florian Znaniecki and William Isaac Thomas in the 1920s. After their work, the biographical approach was considered amongst the dominant research approaches in empirical social research. The study The Polish Peasant in Europe and America (1918–1920) by Znaniecki and Thomas used an extensive collection of diaries, letters, memoirs, autobiographies, and other personal and archival documents as main source for a sociological investigation. The reception of this work was initially late due to linguistic barriers, but it was then absorbed and disseminated in the Social Science Research Council (SSRC). The biographical research approach formed an important foundation for the development of the Chicago School, which later influenced the symbolic interactionism and the work of sociologists such as Robert E. Park, Ernest W. Burgess, and George Herbert Mead.

Another milestone in the development of biographical research was the analysis of the life course of delinquent youths written by Clifford R. Shaw in 1930 [6] and 1931. [7] After 1945, the interest in biographical research declined due to the success of quantitative methods and structural-functionalist theories. The biographical approach influence was felt mainly in the study of deviance. In 1978, Aaron Victor Cicourel published a case study on the life history of a boy named Mark, that received special attention in the discipline of social work. Cicourel's study explored in detail how a criminal career was constructed through police interrogation, individual and distorted interpretations, and institutional documents.

Recent research

Since the 1980s, biographical research gained momentum in the wake of a growing interest for qualitative social research. Biographical research is now a recognized approach in sociology, especially in the German Sociological Tradition (see Fritz Schütze, [8] Martin Kohli, [9] Werner Fuchs-Heinritz and others). This development was supported by a tendency to shift the sociological focus from system and structure to the lifeworld, the everyday life, and the resurgence of phenomenological approaches in sociology (under the influence of Edmund Husserl). The sociology turned to the reconstruction of biographical cases and individual life courses as a form to gain insight on social processes.

With the increasing pluralization of life-worlds, modernization, and differentiation in Postmodern societies, the dissolution of traditional values and the conference of meaning, the biographical approach proved useful to study these social phenomena of the turn of the millennium. The actor became an intersection of different and sometimes divergent determinants, logics, expectations, normative models, and institutionalized mechanisms of control (see Georg Simmel's chapter "The Intersection of Social Circles" [10] ). The "normal biography" broke up and prompted the individual to manage his life course on his own and to find solutions amongst different and contradictory influencing factors and figurations. In this situation, the self-discovered biographical identity with its endangered transitions, breaks, and status changes becomes a conflict between institutional control and individual strategy.

The reconstructive approach in biographical research, which is connected to the phenomenological and Gestalt approaches, was methodologically developed by the German sociologist Gabriele Rosenthal. Rosenthal used principles of the method of objective hermeneutics and the reconstructive analysis of Ulrich Oevermann, and the Gestalt and structure considerations proposed by Aron Gurwitsch and Kurt Koffka to develop a method for the reconstruction of biographical cases. [11] [12]

Methods and limitations

Individual cases and inductive generalizations

In the context of qualitative researches, the biographical research is to be seen as a case-reconstructive approach. The decision to reconstruct cases is in itself an approach to the field rather than a specific research method. Biographical research does not use a single method for data analysis. The most commonly used methods for data construction in biographical research is the biographical narrative interview (see Fritz Schütze [8] ) and/or open interviews. Many use content analysis to analyze the biographical data. The diversity of biographical sources turns an inductive approach, as used in quantitative social research, unfruitful. The logic of an abductive reasoning process is preferred by many researchers that use the biographical approach. The principles of a grounded theory (as in Barney Glaser and Anselm Strauss) [13] are often applied alongside a biographical research.

The questions regarding the possibility to use individual cases to create scientifically valid generalizations arise from the use of the abductive reasoning. This is the question of the sustainability of abductive conclusions (as in Charles Sanders Peirce). The abductive conclusion that biographical cases are socially relevant and bear general patterns of behavior, action, and interpretation in them is common in sociological practice, although some think that it is not yet fully developed. Different approaches to the development of typologies exist, as well as for the contrastive comparison between types in order to allow for theoretical generalizations (see Uta Gerhardt, 1984; Gabriele Rosenthal, 1993; [11] and Susann Kluge, 2000 [14] ).

Experienced life history and narrated life story (erlebte und erzählte Lebensgeschichte)

A fundamental problem exists regarding the differences between the levels of the experienced (erlebte) life history and the narrated (erzählte) life story. [11] Another fundamental implication is the interrelation of experience, memory, and narration. [15] In the early studies of biographical research, great value was placed on the reconstruction of the actual life course of the individual using data from additional sources (such as institutional archives, diaries, interviews with relatives and friends, etc.) and thus eliminating "errors" in the memory and presentation of the interviewee. Today – according to the phenomenological "bracketing" of the being of objects (as by the grounded theory principles) – it is increasingly assumed that the actual life course cannot be reconstructed: experiences are always interpreted by the subject and are mediated by perception, thus constituting the memory in regard to the framework of the overall biography as well as to the situation (for more, see Erving Goffmann notion of frame analysis) where the narrative is collected. [12]

Thus, the main concern of the biographical research should be the life as experiences and narrated by subjects in clear contrast to the "true facts" of a life course reconstruction. Interpretations and constructions of meaning are of utmost importance to reconstruct a biographical case, as the actions and the self-interpretation of these actions by the individual turns his own biography into a coherent totality. Based on empirical experiences with narrated life history and using the research method of biographical narrative interviews, the method of biographical case reconstruction has developed in the last decades in fields that range from the study of migration [16] to professional careers and healthcare.

Reconstruction of the latent structures of meaning

The question of the construction of meaning leads to the questions of the subjectively intended and the objective meaning. Ulrich Oevermann says that an actor in a situation of interaction produces more meaning than he is aware of. Therefore, some researchers consider the task of the biographical research to be the reconstruction of both types of meaning – the intended and the objective. [17] Behind and below the interpretations expressed by the interviewees are the latent structures of meaning that constitute the sense of life and manifest themselves in biographical life situations. [17] In these latent, hidden patterns of meaning, individual experience and societal conditioning are intertwined. Thus, behind individual action lies a direction and a framework for action. According to Heinz Bude, the method of objective hermeneutics and reconstruction of structures of meaning is used in biographical research as a method for the reconstruction of the latent structures of meaning at play in specific situations of a case [18]

Related Research Articles

Life history is an interviewing method used to record autobiographical history from an ordinary person's perspective, often gathered from traditionally marginalized groups. It was begun by anthropologists studying Native American groups around the 1900s, and was taken up by sociologists and other scholars, though its popularity has waxed and waned since. One of the major strengths of the life history method is that it provides a kind of voice from a social milieu that is often overlooked or indeed invisible in intellectual discourse.

Qualitative psychological research

Qualitative psychological research is psychological research that employs qualitative methods.

Qualitative research Form of research

Qualitative research relies on data obtained by the researcher from first-hand observation, interviews, questionnaires, focus groups, participant-observation, recordings made in natural settings, documents, and artifacts. The data are generally nonnumerical. Qualitative methods include ethnography, grounded theory, discourse analysis, and interpretative phenomenological analysis. Qualitative research methods have been used in sociology, anthropology, political science, psychology, social work, and educational research. Qualitative researchers study individuals' understanding of their social reality.

Social research Research conducted by social scientists following a systematic plan

Social research is a research conducted by social scientists following a systematic plan. Social research methodologies can be classified as quantitative and qualitative.

Quantitative research All procedures for the numerical representation of empirical facts

Quantitative research is a research strategy that focuses on quantifying the collection and analysis of data. It is formed from a deductive approach where emphasis is placed on the testing of theory, shaped by empiricist and positivist philosophies.

Paul Lazarsfeld Austrian American sociologist

Paul Felix Lazarsfeld was an Austrian-American sociologist. The founder of Columbia University's Bureau of Applied Social Research, he exerted influence over the techniques and the organization of social research. "It is not so much that he was an American sociologist," one colleague said of him after his death, "as it was that he determined what American sociology would be." Lazarsfeld said that his goal was "to produce Paul Lazarsfelds". The two main accomplishments he is associated with can be analyzed within two lenses of analysis: research institutes, methodology, as well as his research content itself. He was a founding figure in 20th-century empirical sociology.

Ethnomethodology Study of how social order is produced

Ethnomethodology is the study of how social order is produced in and through processes of social interaction. It generally seeks to provide an alternative to mainstream sociological approaches. In its most radical form, it poses a challenge to the social sciences as a whole. Its early investigations led to the founding of conversation analysis, which has found its own place as an accepted discipline within the academy. According to Psathas, it is possible to distinguish five major approaches within the ethnomethodological family of disciplines.

Florian Znaniecki Polish philosopher and sociologist

Florian Witold Znaniecki was a Polish philosopher and sociologist who taught and wrote in Poland and in the United States. Over the course of his work he shifted his focus from philosophy to sociology. He remains a major figure in the history of Polish and American sociology; the founder of Polish academic sociology, and of an entire school of thought in sociology. He won international renown as co-author, with William I. Thomas, of the study, The Polish Peasant in Europe and America (1918–1920), which is considered the foundation of modern empirical sociology. He also made major contributions to sociological theory, introducing terms such as humanistic coefficient and culturalism.

Grounded theory Qualitative research methodology

Grounded theory is a systematic methodology that has been largely applied to qualitative research conducted by social scientists. The methodology involves the construction of hypotheses and theories through the collecting and analysis of data. Grounded theory involves the application of inductive reasoning. The methodology contrasts with the hypothetico-deductive model used in traditional scientific research.

Herbert George Blumer was an American sociologist whose main scholarly interests were symbolic interactionism and methods of social research. Believing that individuals create social reality through collective and individual action, he was an avid interpreter and proponent of George Herbert Mead's social psychology, which he labelled symbolic interactionism. Blumer elaborated and developed this line of thought in a series of articles, many of which were brought together in the book Symbolic Interactionism. An ongoing theme throughout his work, he argued that the creation of social reality is a continuous process. Blumer was also a vociferous critic of positivistic methodological ideas in sociology.

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Narrative inquiry

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Analytic induction is a research strategy in sociology aimed at systematically developing causal explanations for types of phenomena. It was first outlined by Florian Znaniecki in 1934. He contrasted it with the kind of enumerative induction characteristic of statistical analysis. Where the latter was satisfied with probabilistic correlations, Znaniecki insisted that science is concerned with discovering causal universals, and that in social science analytic induction is the means of discovering these.

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A humanistic coefficient is a conceptual object, methodological principle, or method of conducting social research wherein data analysis stresses the perceived import of analyzed experiences to their participants. The term was coined by Polish sociologist Florian Znaniecki.

Sociology Social science that studies human society and its development

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Hubert Knoblauch is a German sociologist, he is known for his work on Sociology of knowledge, Sociology of Religion, Qualitative research and Videography.

<i>The Polish Peasant in Europe and America</i>

The Polish Peasant in Europe and America is a book by Florian Znaniecki and William I. Thomas, considered to be one of the classics of sociology. The book is a study of Polish immigrants to the United States and their families, based on personal documents, and was published in five volumes in the years 1918 to 1920.

Gabriele Rosenthal is a German sociologist and head of Department for Qualitative Methods of the Center for Methods in Social Sciences of the University of Göttingen, Germany. Rosenthal is recognized for the introduction of the method of biographical case reconstruction using biographical narrative interviews. She is known for systemizing the influences of the Gestalt theory, the sociology of knowledge, and the sociology of figurations and processes to explain the interrelationship between experience, memory and narrative, as well as how social figurations intertwine with individual biographies.

References

  1. ↑ Berger, Peter; Luckmann, Thomas (1966). The Social Construction of Reality: A Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge. Garden City, NY: Anchor Books.
  2. ↑ "DGS - Deutsche Gesellschaft für Soziologie: Portrait". soziologie.de (in German). Retrieved 2018-05-25.
  3. ↑ "ISA - RC38 Biography and Society". ISA, International Sociological Association.
  4. ↑ "Objectives of the RC 38 Biography and Society". isa-sociology.org.
  5. ↑ Elias, Norbert (1993). Mozart: Portrait of a Genius. University of California Press. ISBN   978-0520084759.
  6. ↑ Shaw, Clifford (2006) [1930]. The Jack Roller. A Delinquent Boy's Own Story. London: Routledge. ISBN   978-0-415-70093-1.
  7. ↑ Shaw, Clifford (1968) [1931]. The Natural History of a Delinquent Career. New York, NY: Greenwood Press.
  8. 1 2 Schütze, Fritz (2007). "Biography Analysis on the Empirical Base of Autobiographical Narratives: How to Analyse Autobiographical Narrative Interviews - Part I" (PDF). University of Magdeburg.
  9. ↑ Kohli, Martin (3–4 December 1982). "Biographical Research in the German Language Area". In Dulcewski, Zygmunt (ed.). A Commemorative Book in Honor of Florian Znaniecki on the Centenary of His Birth. International Scientific Symposium. Seria Socjologia. Poznán: Adam Mickiewicz University (published 1986). pp. 91–110. ISSN   0554-8225.
  10. ↑ Simmel, Georg (2009). Sociology: inquiries into the construction of social forms. Leiden, The Netherlands: Koninklijke Brill NV. pp. 363–408. ISBN   978-90-04-17321-7.
  11. 1 2 3 Rosenthal, Gabriele (1993). "Reconstruction of Life Stories: Principles of selection in generating stories for narrative biographical interviews" (PDF). The Narrative Study of Lives. 1 (1): 59–91 – via SSOAR.
  12. 1 2 Rosenthal, Gabriele (2018). Interpretive Social Research. An Introduction (PDF). Göttingen: Universitätsverlag Göttingen. ISBN   978-3-86395-374-4.
  13. ↑ Glaser, Barney; Strauss, Anselm (1967). The Discovery of Grounded Theory. Chicago: Aldine Press.
  14. ↑ Kluge, Susann (2000). "Empirically Grounded Construction of Types and Typologies in Qualitative Social Research". Forum: Qualitative Social Research. 1 (1) – via FQS.
  15. ↑ Rosenthal, Gabriele (2006). "The Narrated Life Story: On the Interrelation Between Experience, Memory and Narration" (PDF). Narrative, Memory & Knowledge: Representations, Aesthetics, Contexts: 1–16.
  16. ↑ Apitzsch, Ursula; Siouti, Irini (2007). Biographical Analysis as an Interdisciplinary Research Perspective in the Field of Migration Studies (PDF) (Thesis). Johann Wolfgang Goethe Universität.
  17. 1 2 Oevermann, Ulrich; Tilman, Allert; Konau, Elisabeth; Krambeck, Jürgen (1987). Structures of Meaning and Objective Hermeneutics. In: Volker Meja, Dieter Misgeld, Nico Stehr (Eds.): Modern German Sociology. pp. 436–447. ISBN   978-0-231-05854-4.
  18. ↑ Bude, Heinz (1984). Rekonstruktion von Lebenskonstruktionen. Eine Antwort auf die Frage, was die Biographieforschung bringt. Martin Kohli, Günther Robert (HRSG.): Biographie und Soziale Wirklichkeit. Neue Beiträge und Forschungsperspektiven. pp. 7–28. ISBN   978-3-476-00548-9.

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