SUMMARY THEORY CONSTRUCTION
= the idea, is that you learn how to think as a sociologist
LECTURE 1: THEORISING IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES ............................................................................................ 1
1. C.W. MILLS – THE SOCIOLOGICAL IMAGINATION ...................................................................................... 1
1.1. Theorising ........................................................................................................................................ 1
1.2. The sociological imagination ........................................................................................................... 2
1.2.1. All sciences try to describe/explain particular phenomena (as accurately as possible) ............................. 2
1.2.2. e.g. your favorite lunch ............................................................................................................................... 2
1.3. Sociological imagination: connecting personal troubles with public issues (Mills) ......................... 3
2. SWEDBERG – WHAT YOU NEED TO THEORISE ........................................................................................... 4
2.1. A deep knowledge of what makes something social (A) ................................................................. 4
2.2. Being familiar with a number of concepts and theories (B) ............................................................ 6
2.3. SumMARISING: what you need to theorise ..................................................................................... 6
3. THEORISING IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES ...................................................................................................... 6
3.1. Social scientists… ............................................................................................................................. 6
3.1.1. Address socially significant phenomena ..................................................................................................... 6
3.1.2. Engage directly or indirectly with social theories ....................................................................................... 7
3.1.3. Use large amounts of evidence .................................................................................................................. 7
3.1.4. Analyse that evidence systematically ......................................................................................................... 7
3.2. What distinguishes social-scientific research from other ways of telling and thinking about
society 7
LECTURE 2: CREATIVE THEORISING: THE CONTEXT OF DISCOVERY ................................................................... 8
1. CONTEXT OF DISCOVERY AND CONTEXT OF JUSTIFICATION ..................................................................... 8
Two phases in scientific research................................................................................................................... 8
1.1. DIsCOVERY .................................................................................................................................................. 8
1.2. APPRAISAL .................................................................................................................................................. 8
1.3. DISCOVERY AND APPRAISEL ....................................................................................................................... 9
2. SOCIAL OBSERVATION (CONTEXT OF DISCOVERY).......................................................................................... 10
2.1. A quick reminder ........................................................................................................................... 10
2.2. social observation .......................................................................................................................... 10
2.2.1. ÉMILE DURKHEIM’S basic rules of sociologisch research.......................................................................... 11
2.3. CHOOSING A TOPIC TO OBSERVE…(GERRING) .............................................................................. 11
2.4. OBSERVING .................................................................................................................................... 12
3. HEURISTICS (AFTER OBSERVING, COMES THE INITIAL = EARLY THEORIZING) ......................................... 13
3.1. IN AND OUT OF YOUR COMFORTZONE… (GERRING) → approach 1 to come up with something
new 13
3.2. USE A METAPHOR/ANALOGY (GERRING/ABOTT) → approach 2 to come up with something new
14
3.3. PROBLEMATISING THE OBVIOUS (ABOTT) → approach 3 to come up with something new ........ 15
3.4. REVERSING THEORIES OR CONCEPTS → approach 4 to come up with something new ................ 16
3.5. DESCRIBE YOUR PHENOMENON DIFFERENTLY (ABOTT) → approach 5 to come up with
something new ............................................................................................................................................ 16
3.6. STATIC AND DYNAMIC (ABOTT) → approach 6 to come up with something new ........................ 17
3.7. STUDY THE LITERATURE (GERRING, FIREBAUGH) → approach 7 to come up with something new
17
3.8. REFRAME YOUR PHENOMENON (RAGIN & AMOROSO) → approach 8 to come up with something
new 18
3.8.1. using analystiv frames in everyday life ..................................................................................................... 18
3.8.2. Analytic/theoretical frames ...................................................................................................................... 19
3.8.3. Two main components of analytic frames: classify and characterise phenomena ................................... 20
LECTURE 3: THE CASE OF DEPRESSION = EXAMPLE ASSIGNMENT 1 ................................................................ 20
LECTURE 4 Q&A: / .......................................................................................................................................... 20
LECTURE 5: RESEARCH PARADIGMS, RESEARCH PROCESSES AND GOALS APPLIED TO THE CASE OF
MIGRATION .................................................................................................................................................... 21
, 1. INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................................... 21
2. WHAT ARE PARADIGMS? ........................................................................................................................ 21
3. PARADIGMS AND SCIENTIFIC INNOVATION (BACKGROUND READING): NOT ON EXAM ......................... 23
4. PARADIGMATIC DEBATES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES ................................................................................ 25
5.1. Basic social science debates (CF. ABBOTT) .................................................................................... 25
4.2. Quantitative and qualitative research........................................................................................... 28
5. (POST-)POSITIVIST AND INTERPRETIVE RESEARCH APPROACHES!!!! ...................................................... 28
5.1. POSITIVIST APPROACH (intro): ...................................................................................................... 29
5.2. INTERPRETIVE APPROACH (intro): ................................................................................................. 29
5.3. (POST-)POSITIVISM AND INTERPRETIVISM (in depth) ................................................................... 30
5.3.1. RESEARCH DESIGNS .................................................................................................................................. 30
5.3.2. RESEARCH PROCESS .................................................................................................................................. 30
6. DEVELOPING A RESEARCH QUESTION ..................................................................................................... 37
LECTURE 6: THE POST-POSITIVIST APPROACH PART I ..................................................................................... 39
1. INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................................... 39
1.1. Description & Explanation ............................................................................................................. 39
1.2. The (scientific) value of description ............................................................................................... 40
2. CONCEPTS ............................................................................................................................................... 40
2.1. CONCEPTS (expresses what it is you’re looking at) ....................................................................... 41
2.2. INSTANTIATION = clear defining of a concept (abstract to concrete) ........................................... 41
– JACCARD AND JACOBY .............................................................................................................................. 41
2.3. CHOOSING A DEFINITION (GERRING, J.) ........................................................................................ 44
2.4. SPECIFYING CONCEPTS (make it possible to observe it in reality) ................................................. 44
2.5. MULTIDIMENSIONAL CONSTRUCTS .............................................................................................. 46
2.6. CREATING SYNTHETIC CONSTRUCTS (GERRING) !!!! ..................................................................... 46
2.7. CONSTRUCTING SYNTHETIC CONCEPTS ........................................................................................ 47
3. TYPOLOGIES (= WAY TO DESCRIBE THE VARIETY OF SOCIAL REALITY) .................................................................... 47
3.1. TYPOLOGIES ................................................................................................................................... 48
3.1.1. SIMPLE TYPOLOGIES ................................................................................................................................. 48
3.1.2. Matrix typology: Robert Dahl’s typology of political regimes ................................................................... 48
3.1.3. Taxonomy typology: polities ..................................................................................................................... 48
3.1.4. CONFIGURATIONAL TYPOLOGY ................................................................................................................ 49
3.1.5. SEQUENTIAL TYPOLOGY (= taking ‘time’ into consideration) ........................................................ 49
4. MEASURING ............................................................................................................................................ 49
4.1. THE MERITS AND DIFFICULTIES OF MEASURING ........................................................................... 50
4.1.1. THE MERITS OF MEASURING .................................................................................................................... 50
4.1.2. THE DIFFICULTIES OF MEASURING (= not self-evident) ............................................................................ 50
5. INDICATORS, INDEXES AND CORRELATION ........................................................................................ 50
5.1. INDICATORS .............................................................................................................................................. 50
5.2. FROM INDICATORS TO INDEXES ............................................................................................................... 51
6. CRITERIA OF MEASURING .................................................................................................................. 51
7. STRATEGIES OF MEASURING (GIOVANNI SATORI) ............................................................................. 52
7.1. moving up and down the ladder of abstraction ....................................................................................... 53
7.2. ADJUSTING THE EMPIRICAL SCOPE OF A CONCEPT: trade-off between intension (= # attributes) and
extension (=emirical scope that you cover) .............................................................................................................. 53
7.3. How to MEASURE health-related stigma? ................................................................................................ 54
8. CAVEATS ............................................................................................................................................. 55
LECTURE 7: THE POST-POSITIVIST APPROACH PART II .................................................................................... 56
1. INTRODUCTION (CAUSALITY IN EVERYDAY LIFE) ..................................................................................... 56
1.1. FUNDAMENTAL ATTRIBUTION ERROR .......................................................................................... 56
1.2. WHY DO PEOPLE MAKE THE FUNDAMENTAL ATTRIBUTION ERROR? ........................................... 56
1.3. PUBLIC DEBATES ............................................................................................................................ 57
2. CAUSAL EXPLANATION IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES (ELSTER; PETTIGREW) ................................................. 58
2.1. CAUSAL EXPLANATIONS IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES ........................................................................ 58
2.2. MULTIPLE CAUSALITIES ................................................................................................................. 59
2.3. SUMMING UP SO FAR: SOCIAL SCIENTISTS… ................................................................................. 60
, 2.4. A SIMPLE CAUSAL GRAPH (GERRING)............................................................................................ 60
2.5. WHAT EXPLANATIONS ARE NOT ................................................................................................... 61
2.5.1. CORRELATIONS ......................................................................................................................................... 61
2.5.2. NECESSITY OR DETERMINATION ............................................................................................................... 62
2.5.3. PREDICTION .............................................................................................................................................. 62
2.5.4. STATISTICAL EXPLANATIONS are not causal explanations (strictly speaking) ........................................... 62
2.6. SUMMING UP… ............................................................................................................................. 63
3. THE PROCESS OF CAUSAL REASONING (ELSTER) ..................................................................................... 63
4. CAUSAL MODELS (JACCARD & JACOBY) .................................................................................................. 65
4.1. CAUSAL MODELS ........................................................................................................................... 65
4.1.1. TYPES OF CAUSAL RELATIONSHIPS ( ) ....................................................................................................... 65
4.1.2. CONSTRUCTING A CAUSAL MODEL .......................................................................................................... 68
LECTURE 8: THE INTERPRETIVE APPROACH .................................................................................................... 74
INTRO: .............................................................................................................................................................. 74
What is this? ................................................................................................................................................ 74
The positivist perspective ............................................................................................................................. 74
The interpretive perspective ........................................................................................................................ 74
So… What is this?......................................................................................................................................... 75
Glove stretchers ........................................................................................................................................... 75
A. THE INTERPRETIVE RESEARCH PROCESS: INDUCTIVE OR ABDUCTIVE? ....................................................................... 75
A‘post-positivist model’ of research: DEDUCTIVE (Ragin, Ch.1) .................................................................. 75
A ‘post-positivist model’ of research: INDUCTIVE (Glaser/Strauss, Charmatz) ............................................ 76
The ‘interpretive model of research’ : ABDUCTION or ‘retroduction’ (Ragin & Amoroso) ........................... 76
B. CONTEXTUALITY .......................................................................................................................................... 76
BUILDING BLOCKS OF THE INTERPRETATIVE APPROACH .................................................................................. 79
A. Context........................................................................................................................................................... 79
B. Concepts ........................................................................................................................................................ 80
C. Constitutive causality (diffficuilt in interpretative approach) ........................................................................ 81
D. Trustworthiness ............................................................................................................................................. 82
E. Evidence ......................................................................................................................................................... 86
F. Getting going with interpretive research ....................................................................................................... 88
LECTURE 9 Q&A: / .......................................................................................................................................... 89
LECTURE 10 - GUESTLECTURE MILENA BELLONI .............................................................................................. 90
1. ABOUT ETHNOGRAPHY: HISTORY AND THEORETICAL INSIGHTS ............................................................................... 90
A. KEY INGREDIENTS OF ETHNOGRAPHY ................................................................................................ 90
B. WHAT IS ETHNOGRAPHY? .................................................................................................................. 90
C. BETWEEN OBSERVATION AND PARTICIPATION ................................................................................. 90
D. ANTHROPOLOGY AS A FIELD SCIENCE (GUPTA &FERGUSON, 1997) .................................................. 91
E. malinowski and the argonauts of the western pacific ....................................................................... 91
F. the developmend of field research in sociology (1940) ...................................................................... 91
G. From one sited to multi-sited ethnography........................................................................................ 91
H. Three ways of doing multi-sited enthography (MARCUS, 1995) ........................................................ 92
I. SOME ORDINARY DEFINITIONS: FIND THE KEY WORDS ..................................................................... 92
J. WHAT IS ETHNOGRAPHY? (THREE ELEMENTS) .................................................................................. 92
K. FIELDWORK ........................................................................................................................................ 92
L. WHAT IS A FIELD, FOR ETHNOGRAPHY? ............................................................................................ 93
M. THEORETICALLY SPEAKING ................................................................................................................. 93
N. WHAT DOES IT MEAN THAT A STUDY IS REPRESENTATIVE (SMALL, 2009) ........................................ 93
2. PRACTICAL GUIDE THROUGH ETHNOGRAPHIC RESEACH ........................................................................................ 94
A. THINKING ABOUT TIME AND SPACE OF THE RESEARCH .................................................................... 94
B. GAINING ACCESS: to a social context ................................................................................................. 94
C. STAYING IN THE FIELD ........................................................................................................................ 94
D. IDEAS… ............................................................................................................................................... 94
E. In the field (after acessing the field)................................................................................................... 95
F. WHAT TO LOOK AT: THE MATERIAL ORDER ....................................................................................... 95
AN EXAMPLE: ERITREAN HOUSES INSIDE OUT (=shows importance of material order) .......................................... 95
, G. WHAT TO LOOK AT: THE INTERACTION ORDER ................................................................................. 95
H. WHAT TO LOOK AT: THE SPATIAL AND EXPERIENTIAL ORDER ........................................................... 96
I. WHAT TO LOOK AT: MORAL AND AESTHETIC VALUE ......................................................................... 96
J. HOW HAS THIS HAPPENED? ............................................................................................................... 96
K. LEARNING THE LANGUAGE ................................................................................................................ 96
L. LISTENING, OBSERVING, TASTING MORE THAN ASKING QUESTIONS ................................................ 96
M. WRITING AND RECORDING ................................................................................................................ 96
N. MORE ON WRITING FIELDNOTES: ...................................................................................................... 97
O. WHEN SHOULD THE ANALYSIS START? NOT AT ................................................................................. 97
3. MY RESEARCH AT LARGE: THEORIES, METHODS AND ETHICAL CONDUNDRUMS .......................................................... 97
A. WHO IS A REFUGEE? .......................................................................................................................... 97
B. GENEVA CONVENTION 1951: A SOLUTION TO A EUROPEAN PROBLEM ........................................... 97
C. THE CONTEXT OF PROTRACTED DISPLACEMENT ............................................................................... 97
D. EUROPEAN REFUGEE CRISIS? ............................................................................................................. 98
E. IS FORCED MIGRATION AN EXCEPTIONAL OR A NORMAL EVENT? .................................................... 98
F. THE RESEARCH: THE ETHNOGRAPHY OF A CORRIDOR ....................................................................... 98
G. REFUGEES BUT… ................................................................................................................................ 98
H. ERITREA .............................................................................................................................................. 99
A MOBILE ETHNOGRAPHY ........................................................................................................................................ 99
ITALIAN COLONY FROM 1882 TO 1941 → INDEPENDENCE 1961-1991: only photos............................................... 99
1998-2001 BORDER CONFLICT: only photo .............................................................................................................. 99
ERITREA TODAY ........................................................................................................................................................ 99
The National Service and the generation of the inheritors: only photo ................................................................... 99
BEYOND CRISIS: FOR A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE ISSUES AT STAKE ........................................................... 99
Refugee Camps in Northern Ethiopia: only photo .................................................................................................... 99
NOT ONLY «FORCED MOBILITY» BUT ALSO «FORCED IMMOBILITY»: ...................................................................... 99
Who leaves and why? ............................................................................................................................................... 99
CONUNDRUMS OF DOING ETHNOGRAPHY .............................................................................................................. 99
Navigating definitions of the self ............................................................................................................................ 100
POWER DYNAMICS: MANAGING EXPECTATIONS ................................................................................................... 100
LECTURE 11 - LEVELS OF ANALYSIS IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES ........................................................................ 101
INTRODUCTION: MULTIPLE LEVELS OF ANALYSIS ........................................................................................... 101
SOCIAL RESEARCH IS SITUATED ON DIFFERENT LEVELS .................................................................................. 101
Levels of analysis: the level in which explanations are situated ................................................................ 101
Thinking about different levels of analysis: AIMS ...................................................................................... 102
E.G. OBESITAS ............................................................................................................................................ 102
FALLACIES IN REASONING............................................................................................................................... 104
Fallacies in reasoning................................................................................................................................. 105
Compositional fallacy (DENKFOUT) (1) ................................................................................................................... 105
Ecological fallacy (2) ............................................................................................................................................... 105
SHIFTING BETWEEN LEVELS ............................................................................................................................ 107
Different causal paths................................................................................................................................ 107
4. Micro → Meso → Macro ............................................................................................................................. 108
5. Macro → Meso → Micro ............................................................................................................................. 109
SUMMING UP… .................................................................................................................................................. 111
LECTURE 12 - COMPARATIVE RESEARCH: POTENTIALS AND PROBLEMS (LAST LECTURE) ............................. 112
1. INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................................... 112
2. WHY COMPARE? ....................................................................................................................................... 113
Research goals (Ragin & Amoroso) ........................................................................................................... 114
Research goals (Landman) → explaination in reader................................................................................ 115
3. WHAT TO COMPARE? ................................................................................................................................. 115
4. HOW TO COMPARE? & THE PROCESS OF COMPARATIVE RESEARCH ...................................................................... 116
4.1. Three comparative design strategies (J.S. Mill) ........................................................................... 116
4.1.1. Most similar comparative design (= first method of comparisson) ........................................................ 116
4.1.2. Most different comparative design (= second method of comparisson) ................................................ 117
4.1.3. Heteronomous design ............................................................................................................................ 117
4.2. Weberian ideal types ................................................................................................................... 118
= the idea, is that you learn how to think as a sociologist
LECTURE 1: THEORISING IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES ............................................................................................ 1
1. C.W. MILLS – THE SOCIOLOGICAL IMAGINATION ...................................................................................... 1
1.1. Theorising ........................................................................................................................................ 1
1.2. The sociological imagination ........................................................................................................... 2
1.2.1. All sciences try to describe/explain particular phenomena (as accurately as possible) ............................. 2
1.2.2. e.g. your favorite lunch ............................................................................................................................... 2
1.3. Sociological imagination: connecting personal troubles with public issues (Mills) ......................... 3
2. SWEDBERG – WHAT YOU NEED TO THEORISE ........................................................................................... 4
2.1. A deep knowledge of what makes something social (A) ................................................................. 4
2.2. Being familiar with a number of concepts and theories (B) ............................................................ 6
2.3. SumMARISING: what you need to theorise ..................................................................................... 6
3. THEORISING IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES ...................................................................................................... 6
3.1. Social scientists… ............................................................................................................................. 6
3.1.1. Address socially significant phenomena ..................................................................................................... 6
3.1.2. Engage directly or indirectly with social theories ....................................................................................... 7
3.1.3. Use large amounts of evidence .................................................................................................................. 7
3.1.4. Analyse that evidence systematically ......................................................................................................... 7
3.2. What distinguishes social-scientific research from other ways of telling and thinking about
society 7
LECTURE 2: CREATIVE THEORISING: THE CONTEXT OF DISCOVERY ................................................................... 8
1. CONTEXT OF DISCOVERY AND CONTEXT OF JUSTIFICATION ..................................................................... 8
Two phases in scientific research................................................................................................................... 8
1.1. DIsCOVERY .................................................................................................................................................. 8
1.2. APPRAISAL .................................................................................................................................................. 8
1.3. DISCOVERY AND APPRAISEL ....................................................................................................................... 9
2. SOCIAL OBSERVATION (CONTEXT OF DISCOVERY).......................................................................................... 10
2.1. A quick reminder ........................................................................................................................... 10
2.2. social observation .......................................................................................................................... 10
2.2.1. ÉMILE DURKHEIM’S basic rules of sociologisch research.......................................................................... 11
2.3. CHOOSING A TOPIC TO OBSERVE…(GERRING) .............................................................................. 11
2.4. OBSERVING .................................................................................................................................... 12
3. HEURISTICS (AFTER OBSERVING, COMES THE INITIAL = EARLY THEORIZING) ......................................... 13
3.1. IN AND OUT OF YOUR COMFORTZONE… (GERRING) → approach 1 to come up with something
new 13
3.2. USE A METAPHOR/ANALOGY (GERRING/ABOTT) → approach 2 to come up with something new
14
3.3. PROBLEMATISING THE OBVIOUS (ABOTT) → approach 3 to come up with something new ........ 15
3.4. REVERSING THEORIES OR CONCEPTS → approach 4 to come up with something new ................ 16
3.5. DESCRIBE YOUR PHENOMENON DIFFERENTLY (ABOTT) → approach 5 to come up with
something new ............................................................................................................................................ 16
3.6. STATIC AND DYNAMIC (ABOTT) → approach 6 to come up with something new ........................ 17
3.7. STUDY THE LITERATURE (GERRING, FIREBAUGH) → approach 7 to come up with something new
17
3.8. REFRAME YOUR PHENOMENON (RAGIN & AMOROSO) → approach 8 to come up with something
new 18
3.8.1. using analystiv frames in everyday life ..................................................................................................... 18
3.8.2. Analytic/theoretical frames ...................................................................................................................... 19
3.8.3. Two main components of analytic frames: classify and characterise phenomena ................................... 20
LECTURE 3: THE CASE OF DEPRESSION = EXAMPLE ASSIGNMENT 1 ................................................................ 20
LECTURE 4 Q&A: / .......................................................................................................................................... 20
LECTURE 5: RESEARCH PARADIGMS, RESEARCH PROCESSES AND GOALS APPLIED TO THE CASE OF
MIGRATION .................................................................................................................................................... 21
, 1. INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................................... 21
2. WHAT ARE PARADIGMS? ........................................................................................................................ 21
3. PARADIGMS AND SCIENTIFIC INNOVATION (BACKGROUND READING): NOT ON EXAM ......................... 23
4. PARADIGMATIC DEBATES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES ................................................................................ 25
5.1. Basic social science debates (CF. ABBOTT) .................................................................................... 25
4.2. Quantitative and qualitative research........................................................................................... 28
5. (POST-)POSITIVIST AND INTERPRETIVE RESEARCH APPROACHES!!!! ...................................................... 28
5.1. POSITIVIST APPROACH (intro): ...................................................................................................... 29
5.2. INTERPRETIVE APPROACH (intro): ................................................................................................. 29
5.3. (POST-)POSITIVISM AND INTERPRETIVISM (in depth) ................................................................... 30
5.3.1. RESEARCH DESIGNS .................................................................................................................................. 30
5.3.2. RESEARCH PROCESS .................................................................................................................................. 30
6. DEVELOPING A RESEARCH QUESTION ..................................................................................................... 37
LECTURE 6: THE POST-POSITIVIST APPROACH PART I ..................................................................................... 39
1. INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................................... 39
1.1. Description & Explanation ............................................................................................................. 39
1.2. The (scientific) value of description ............................................................................................... 40
2. CONCEPTS ............................................................................................................................................... 40
2.1. CONCEPTS (expresses what it is you’re looking at) ....................................................................... 41
2.2. INSTANTIATION = clear defining of a concept (abstract to concrete) ........................................... 41
– JACCARD AND JACOBY .............................................................................................................................. 41
2.3. CHOOSING A DEFINITION (GERRING, J.) ........................................................................................ 44
2.4. SPECIFYING CONCEPTS (make it possible to observe it in reality) ................................................. 44
2.5. MULTIDIMENSIONAL CONSTRUCTS .............................................................................................. 46
2.6. CREATING SYNTHETIC CONSTRUCTS (GERRING) !!!! ..................................................................... 46
2.7. CONSTRUCTING SYNTHETIC CONCEPTS ........................................................................................ 47
3. TYPOLOGIES (= WAY TO DESCRIBE THE VARIETY OF SOCIAL REALITY) .................................................................... 47
3.1. TYPOLOGIES ................................................................................................................................... 48
3.1.1. SIMPLE TYPOLOGIES ................................................................................................................................. 48
3.1.2. Matrix typology: Robert Dahl’s typology of political regimes ................................................................... 48
3.1.3. Taxonomy typology: polities ..................................................................................................................... 48
3.1.4. CONFIGURATIONAL TYPOLOGY ................................................................................................................ 49
3.1.5. SEQUENTIAL TYPOLOGY (= taking ‘time’ into consideration) ........................................................ 49
4. MEASURING ............................................................................................................................................ 49
4.1. THE MERITS AND DIFFICULTIES OF MEASURING ........................................................................... 50
4.1.1. THE MERITS OF MEASURING .................................................................................................................... 50
4.1.2. THE DIFFICULTIES OF MEASURING (= not self-evident) ............................................................................ 50
5. INDICATORS, INDEXES AND CORRELATION ........................................................................................ 50
5.1. INDICATORS .............................................................................................................................................. 50
5.2. FROM INDICATORS TO INDEXES ............................................................................................................... 51
6. CRITERIA OF MEASURING .................................................................................................................. 51
7. STRATEGIES OF MEASURING (GIOVANNI SATORI) ............................................................................. 52
7.1. moving up and down the ladder of abstraction ....................................................................................... 53
7.2. ADJUSTING THE EMPIRICAL SCOPE OF A CONCEPT: trade-off between intension (= # attributes) and
extension (=emirical scope that you cover) .............................................................................................................. 53
7.3. How to MEASURE health-related stigma? ................................................................................................ 54
8. CAVEATS ............................................................................................................................................. 55
LECTURE 7: THE POST-POSITIVIST APPROACH PART II .................................................................................... 56
1. INTRODUCTION (CAUSALITY IN EVERYDAY LIFE) ..................................................................................... 56
1.1. FUNDAMENTAL ATTRIBUTION ERROR .......................................................................................... 56
1.2. WHY DO PEOPLE MAKE THE FUNDAMENTAL ATTRIBUTION ERROR? ........................................... 56
1.3. PUBLIC DEBATES ............................................................................................................................ 57
2. CAUSAL EXPLANATION IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES (ELSTER; PETTIGREW) ................................................. 58
2.1. CAUSAL EXPLANATIONS IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES ........................................................................ 58
2.2. MULTIPLE CAUSALITIES ................................................................................................................. 59
2.3. SUMMING UP SO FAR: SOCIAL SCIENTISTS… ................................................................................. 60
, 2.4. A SIMPLE CAUSAL GRAPH (GERRING)............................................................................................ 60
2.5. WHAT EXPLANATIONS ARE NOT ................................................................................................... 61
2.5.1. CORRELATIONS ......................................................................................................................................... 61
2.5.2. NECESSITY OR DETERMINATION ............................................................................................................... 62
2.5.3. PREDICTION .............................................................................................................................................. 62
2.5.4. STATISTICAL EXPLANATIONS are not causal explanations (strictly speaking) ........................................... 62
2.6. SUMMING UP… ............................................................................................................................. 63
3. THE PROCESS OF CAUSAL REASONING (ELSTER) ..................................................................................... 63
4. CAUSAL MODELS (JACCARD & JACOBY) .................................................................................................. 65
4.1. CAUSAL MODELS ........................................................................................................................... 65
4.1.1. TYPES OF CAUSAL RELATIONSHIPS ( ) ....................................................................................................... 65
4.1.2. CONSTRUCTING A CAUSAL MODEL .......................................................................................................... 68
LECTURE 8: THE INTERPRETIVE APPROACH .................................................................................................... 74
INTRO: .............................................................................................................................................................. 74
What is this? ................................................................................................................................................ 74
The positivist perspective ............................................................................................................................. 74
The interpretive perspective ........................................................................................................................ 74
So… What is this?......................................................................................................................................... 75
Glove stretchers ........................................................................................................................................... 75
A. THE INTERPRETIVE RESEARCH PROCESS: INDUCTIVE OR ABDUCTIVE? ....................................................................... 75
A‘post-positivist model’ of research: DEDUCTIVE (Ragin, Ch.1) .................................................................. 75
A ‘post-positivist model’ of research: INDUCTIVE (Glaser/Strauss, Charmatz) ............................................ 76
The ‘interpretive model of research’ : ABDUCTION or ‘retroduction’ (Ragin & Amoroso) ........................... 76
B. CONTEXTUALITY .......................................................................................................................................... 76
BUILDING BLOCKS OF THE INTERPRETATIVE APPROACH .................................................................................. 79
A. Context........................................................................................................................................................... 79
B. Concepts ........................................................................................................................................................ 80
C. Constitutive causality (diffficuilt in interpretative approach) ........................................................................ 81
D. Trustworthiness ............................................................................................................................................. 82
E. Evidence ......................................................................................................................................................... 86
F. Getting going with interpretive research ....................................................................................................... 88
LECTURE 9 Q&A: / .......................................................................................................................................... 89
LECTURE 10 - GUESTLECTURE MILENA BELLONI .............................................................................................. 90
1. ABOUT ETHNOGRAPHY: HISTORY AND THEORETICAL INSIGHTS ............................................................................... 90
A. KEY INGREDIENTS OF ETHNOGRAPHY ................................................................................................ 90
B. WHAT IS ETHNOGRAPHY? .................................................................................................................. 90
C. BETWEEN OBSERVATION AND PARTICIPATION ................................................................................. 90
D. ANTHROPOLOGY AS A FIELD SCIENCE (GUPTA &FERGUSON, 1997) .................................................. 91
E. malinowski and the argonauts of the western pacific ....................................................................... 91
F. the developmend of field research in sociology (1940) ...................................................................... 91
G. From one sited to multi-sited ethnography........................................................................................ 91
H. Three ways of doing multi-sited enthography (MARCUS, 1995) ........................................................ 92
I. SOME ORDINARY DEFINITIONS: FIND THE KEY WORDS ..................................................................... 92
J. WHAT IS ETHNOGRAPHY? (THREE ELEMENTS) .................................................................................. 92
K. FIELDWORK ........................................................................................................................................ 92
L. WHAT IS A FIELD, FOR ETHNOGRAPHY? ............................................................................................ 93
M. THEORETICALLY SPEAKING ................................................................................................................. 93
N. WHAT DOES IT MEAN THAT A STUDY IS REPRESENTATIVE (SMALL, 2009) ........................................ 93
2. PRACTICAL GUIDE THROUGH ETHNOGRAPHIC RESEACH ........................................................................................ 94
A. THINKING ABOUT TIME AND SPACE OF THE RESEARCH .................................................................... 94
B. GAINING ACCESS: to a social context ................................................................................................. 94
C. STAYING IN THE FIELD ........................................................................................................................ 94
D. IDEAS… ............................................................................................................................................... 94
E. In the field (after acessing the field)................................................................................................... 95
F. WHAT TO LOOK AT: THE MATERIAL ORDER ....................................................................................... 95
AN EXAMPLE: ERITREAN HOUSES INSIDE OUT (=shows importance of material order) .......................................... 95
, G. WHAT TO LOOK AT: THE INTERACTION ORDER ................................................................................. 95
H. WHAT TO LOOK AT: THE SPATIAL AND EXPERIENTIAL ORDER ........................................................... 96
I. WHAT TO LOOK AT: MORAL AND AESTHETIC VALUE ......................................................................... 96
J. HOW HAS THIS HAPPENED? ............................................................................................................... 96
K. LEARNING THE LANGUAGE ................................................................................................................ 96
L. LISTENING, OBSERVING, TASTING MORE THAN ASKING QUESTIONS ................................................ 96
M. WRITING AND RECORDING ................................................................................................................ 96
N. MORE ON WRITING FIELDNOTES: ...................................................................................................... 97
O. WHEN SHOULD THE ANALYSIS START? NOT AT ................................................................................. 97
3. MY RESEARCH AT LARGE: THEORIES, METHODS AND ETHICAL CONDUNDRUMS .......................................................... 97
A. WHO IS A REFUGEE? .......................................................................................................................... 97
B. GENEVA CONVENTION 1951: A SOLUTION TO A EUROPEAN PROBLEM ........................................... 97
C. THE CONTEXT OF PROTRACTED DISPLACEMENT ............................................................................... 97
D. EUROPEAN REFUGEE CRISIS? ............................................................................................................. 98
E. IS FORCED MIGRATION AN EXCEPTIONAL OR A NORMAL EVENT? .................................................... 98
F. THE RESEARCH: THE ETHNOGRAPHY OF A CORRIDOR ....................................................................... 98
G. REFUGEES BUT… ................................................................................................................................ 98
H. ERITREA .............................................................................................................................................. 99
A MOBILE ETHNOGRAPHY ........................................................................................................................................ 99
ITALIAN COLONY FROM 1882 TO 1941 → INDEPENDENCE 1961-1991: only photos............................................... 99
1998-2001 BORDER CONFLICT: only photo .............................................................................................................. 99
ERITREA TODAY ........................................................................................................................................................ 99
The National Service and the generation of the inheritors: only photo ................................................................... 99
BEYOND CRISIS: FOR A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE ISSUES AT STAKE ........................................................... 99
Refugee Camps in Northern Ethiopia: only photo .................................................................................................... 99
NOT ONLY «FORCED MOBILITY» BUT ALSO «FORCED IMMOBILITY»: ...................................................................... 99
Who leaves and why? ............................................................................................................................................... 99
CONUNDRUMS OF DOING ETHNOGRAPHY .............................................................................................................. 99
Navigating definitions of the self ............................................................................................................................ 100
POWER DYNAMICS: MANAGING EXPECTATIONS ................................................................................................... 100
LECTURE 11 - LEVELS OF ANALYSIS IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES ........................................................................ 101
INTRODUCTION: MULTIPLE LEVELS OF ANALYSIS ........................................................................................... 101
SOCIAL RESEARCH IS SITUATED ON DIFFERENT LEVELS .................................................................................. 101
Levels of analysis: the level in which explanations are situated ................................................................ 101
Thinking about different levels of analysis: AIMS ...................................................................................... 102
E.G. OBESITAS ............................................................................................................................................ 102
FALLACIES IN REASONING............................................................................................................................... 104
Fallacies in reasoning................................................................................................................................. 105
Compositional fallacy (DENKFOUT) (1) ................................................................................................................... 105
Ecological fallacy (2) ............................................................................................................................................... 105
SHIFTING BETWEEN LEVELS ............................................................................................................................ 107
Different causal paths................................................................................................................................ 107
4. Micro → Meso → Macro ............................................................................................................................. 108
5. Macro → Meso → Micro ............................................................................................................................. 109
SUMMING UP… .................................................................................................................................................. 111
LECTURE 12 - COMPARATIVE RESEARCH: POTENTIALS AND PROBLEMS (LAST LECTURE) ............................. 112
1. INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................................... 112
2. WHY COMPARE? ....................................................................................................................................... 113
Research goals (Ragin & Amoroso) ........................................................................................................... 114
Research goals (Landman) → explaination in reader................................................................................ 115
3. WHAT TO COMPARE? ................................................................................................................................. 115
4. HOW TO COMPARE? & THE PROCESS OF COMPARATIVE RESEARCH ...................................................................... 116
4.1. Three comparative design strategies (J.S. Mill) ........................................................................... 116
4.1.1. Most similar comparative design (= first method of comparisson) ........................................................ 116
4.1.2. Most different comparative design (= second method of comparisson) ................................................ 117
4.1.3. Heteronomous design ............................................................................................................................ 117
4.2. Weberian ideal types ................................................................................................................... 118
