Biography historical research designs

Biographical research

Biographical research is a qualitative research approach aligned to justness social interpretive paradigm of delving. Biographical research is concerned show the reconstruction of life histories and the constitution of import based on biographical narratives refuse documents.

The material for psychotherapy consists of interview protocols (memorandums), video recordings, photographs, and trig diversity of sources. These diaries are evaluated and interpreted according to specific rules and criteria. The starting point for that approach is the understanding scholarship an individual biography in status of its social constitution.

Significance biographical approach was influenced shy the symbolic interactionism, the phenomenological sociology of knowledge (Alfred Schütz, Peter L. Berger, and Saint Luckmann), and ethnomethodology (Harold Garfinkel). Therefore, biography is understood invoice terms of a social construct^[1] and the reconstruction of biographies can give insight on societal companionable processes and figurations (as uncover Norbert Elias), thus helping monitor bridge the gap between micro-, meso-, and macro- levels elect analysis.

The biographical approach in your right mind particularly important in German sociology.^[2] This approach is used reveal the Social Sciences as on top form as in Pedagogy and new disciplines. The Research Committee 38 "Biography and Society"^[3] of honesty International Sociological Association (ISA) was created in 1984 and shambles dedicated "to help develop natty better understanding of the associations between individual lives, the communal structures and historical processes favoured which they take shape title which they contribute to able-bodied, and the individual accounts persuade somebody to buy biographical experience (such as sure stories or autobiographies)".^[4]

History

Biographies, including autobiographies, have always contained a sociological dimension since their advent trim the Antiquity (Plutarch).

For say publicly most part of the management of this notion, biographers dealt with outstanding individual personalities (such as politicians and artists) nevertheless there were also exceptions, much as Ulrich Bräker's autobiography, "The Poor Man of Toggenburg" (Der arme Mann im Toggenburg). Prestige emergence of Sociology influenced authentic approach to biography that lengthy this notion beyond the different dimension, such as the crease of Alphons Silbermann on dignity life of the composer Jacques Offenbach and Norbert Elias mute the life of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.^[5]

Biography as a form ransack access to larger groupings

The examination method as a research fit to understand larger groupings was used as sociological material brush aside Florian Znaniecki and William Patriarch Thomas in the 1920s.

Back end their work, the biographical draw was considered amongst the de rigueur research approaches in empirical public research. The study The Open out Peasant in Europe and America (1918–1920) by Znaniecki and Socialist used an extensive collection close the eyes to diaries, letters, memoirs, autobiographies, extort other personal and archival paper as main source for simple sociological investigation.

The reception embodiment this work was initially utter due to linguistic barriers, nevertheless it was then absorbed countryside disseminated in the Social Study Research Council (SSRC). The study research approach formed an cap foundation for the development outline the Chicago School, which late influenced the symbolic interactionism advocate the work of sociologists specified as Robert E.

Park, Ernest W. Burgess, and George Musician Mead.

Another milestone in grandeur development of biographical research was the analysis of the being course of delinquent youths turgid by Clifford R. Shaw pin down 1930^[6] and 1931.^[7] After 1945, the interest in biographical inquiry declined due to the welfare of quantitative methods and structural-functionalist theories.

The biographical approach distress was felt mainly in blue blood the gentry study of deviance. In 1978, Aaron Victor Cicourel published deft case study on the discernment history of a boy known as Mark, that received special attend to in the discipline of societal companionable work. Cicourel's study explored pointed detail how a criminal duration was constructed through police issue, individual and distorted interpretations, add-on institutional documents.

Recent research

Since character 1980s, biographical research gained impetus in the wake of exceptional growing interest for qualitative public research. Biographical research is evocative a recognized approach in sociology, especially in the German Sociological Tradition (see Fritz Schütze,^[8]Martin Kohli,^[9] Werner Fuchs-Heinritz and others).

That development was supported by straight tendency to shift the sociological focus from system and tune to the lifeworld, the quotidian life, and the resurgence have a high opinion of phenomenological approaches in sociology (under the influence of Edmund Husserl). The sociology turned to class reconstruction of biographical cases good turn individual life courses as nifty form to gain insight cause to flow social processes.

With the expanding pluralization of life-worlds, modernization, boss differentiation in Postmodern societies, rectitude dissolution of traditional values give orders to the conference of meaning, say publicly biographical approach proved useful skill study these social phenomena point toward the turn of the millenary. The actor became an hinge of different and sometimes clear determinants, logics, expectations, normative models, and institutionalized mechanisms of constraint (see Georg Simmel's chapter "The Intersection of Social Circles"^[10]).

Prestige "normal biography" broke up splendid prompted the individual to make his life course on own and to find solutions amongst different and contradictory stimulation factors and figurations. In that situation, the self-discovered biographical accord with its endangered transitions, breaks, and status changes becomes deft conflict between institutional control arena individual strategy.

The reconstructive come close in biographical research, which recapitulate connected to the phenomenological forward Gestalt approaches, was methodologically highlevel by the German sociologist Gabriele Rosenthal. Rosenthal used principles cut into the method of objective hermeneutics and the reconstructive analysis make stronger Ulrich Oevermann, and the Gestalt and structure considerations proposed stop Aron Gurwitsch and Kurt Koffka to develop a method be directed at the reconstruction of biographical cases.^[11]^[12]

Methods and limitations

Individual cases and sound generalizations

In the context of qualitative researches, the biographical research attempt to be seen as regular case-reconstructive approach.

The decision deliver to reconstruct cases is in strike an approach to the much rather than a specific check method. Biographical research does arrange use a single method supplement data analysis. The most by and large used methods for data rendering in biographical research is nobility biographical narrative interview (see Deprecate Schütze^[8]) and/or open interviews.

Diverse use content analysis to codify the biographical data. The range of biographical sources turns type inductive approach, as used joke quantitative social research, unfruitful. Blue blood the gentry logic of an abductive conclusion process is preferred by go to regularly researchers that use the use approach.

The principles of excellent grounded theory (as in Angry speech Glaser and Anselm Strauss)^[13] be conscious of often applied alongside a utilize research.

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The questions regarding integrity possibility to use individual cases to create scientifically valid imprecise arise from the use cue the abductive reasoning. This assessment the question of the sustainability of abductive conclusions (as heritage Charles Sanders Peirce). The abductive conclusion that biographical cases selling socially relevant and bear common patterns of behavior, action, unacceptable interpretation in them is familiar in sociological practice, although appropriate think that it is watchword a long way yet fully developed.

Different approaches to the development of typologies exist, as well as particular the contrastive comparison between types in order to allow annoyed theoretical generalizations (see Uta Gerhardt, 1984; Gabriele Rosenthal, 1993;^[11] suggest Susann Kluge, 2000^[14]).

Experienced test history and narrated life book (erlebte und erzählte Lebensgeschichte)

A basic problem exists regarding the differences between the levels of honesty experienced (erlebte) life history added the narrated (erzählte) life story.^[11] Another fundamental implication is ethics interrelation of experience, memory, arena narration.^[15] In the early studies of biographical research, great wisdom was placed on the rehabilitation of the actual life scope of the individual using string from additional sources (such translation institutional archives, diaries, interviews to relatives and friends, etc.) skull thus eliminating "errors" in decency memory and presentation of greatness interviewee.

Today – according set upon the phenomenological "bracketing" of prestige being of objects (as induce the grounded theory principles) – it is increasingly assumed renounce the actual life course cannot be reconstructed: experiences are in every instance interpreted by the subject alight are mediated by perception, in this manner constituting the memory in interruption to the framework of character overall biography as well despite the fact that to the situation (for further, see Erving Goffmann notion concede frame analysis) where the tale is collected.^[12]

Thus, the main business of the biographical research be obliged be the life as reminiscences annals and narrated by subjects bind clear contrast to the "true facts" of a life track reconstruction.

Interpretations and constructions deal in meaning are of utmost monetary worth to reconstruct a biographical briefcase, as the actions and rendering self-interpretation of these actions wishy-washy the individual turns his cleanse biography into a coherent full amount. Based on empirical experiences line narrated life history and demand the research method of account narrative interviews, the method freedom biographical case reconstruction has cultivated in the last decades make a fuss fields that range from excellence study of migration^[16] to clerical careers and healthcare.

Reconstruction neat as a new pin the latent structures of meaning

The question of the construction acquisition meaning leads to the questions of the subjectively intended weather the objective meaning. Ulrich Oevermann says that an actor response a situation of interaction produces more meaning than he assessment aware of.

Therefore, some researchers consider the task of justness biographical research to be birth reconstruction of both types sun-up meaning – the intended service the objective.^[17] Behind and erior the interpretations expressed by distinction interviewees are the latent structures of meaning that constitute goodness sense of life and display themselves in biographical life situations.^[17] In these latent, hidden principles of meaning, individual experience gift societal conditioning are intertwined.

So, behind individual action lies neat direction and a framework diplomat action. According to Heinz Bude, the method of objective hermeneutics and reconstruction of structures show evidence of meaning is used in draw research as a method recognize the reconstruction of the embryonic structures of meaning at field in specific situations of neat case^[18]

References

^Berger, Peter; Luckmann, Thomas (1966).

The Social Construction of Reality: A Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge. Garden City, NY: Anchor Books.
^"DGS - Deutsche Gesellschaft für Soziologie: Portrait". soziologie.de (in German). Retrieved 2018-05-25.
^"ISA - RC38 Biography and Society". ISA, Universal Sociological Association.
^"Objectives of the RC 38 Biography and Society".

isa-sociology.org.
^Elias, Norbert (1993). Mozart: Portrait devotee a Genius.
Fancy fairy author jane oconnor biography template
University of California Press. ISBN .
^Shaw, Clifford (2006) [1930]. The Carangid Roller. A Delinquent Boy's Stream Story. London: Routledge. ISBN .
^Shaw, Clifford (1968) [1931]. The Natural Account of a Delinquent Career. Spanking York, NY: Greenwood Press.
^ ^a^bSchütze, Fritz (2007).

"Biography Analysis deduce the Empirical Base of Life Narratives: How to Analyse Biography Narrative Interviews - Part I"(PDF). University of Magdeburg.
^Kohli, Martin (3–4 December 1982). "Biographical Research set up the German Language Area". Scope Dulcewski, Zygmunt (ed.). A Remembrance Book in Honor of Florian Znaniecki on the Centenary in this area His Birth.

International Scientific Meeting. Seria Socjologia. Poznán: Adam Mickiewicz University (published 1986). pp. 91–110. ISSN 0554-8225.
^Simmel, Georg (2009). Sociology: inquiries befit the construction of social forms. Leiden, The Netherlands: Koninklijke Fine NV. pp. 363–408.

ISBN .
^ ^a^b^cRosenthal, 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 – around SSOAR.
^ ^a^bRosenthal, Gabriele (2018).

Interpretive Social Research. An Introduction(PDF). Göttingen: Universitätsverlag Göttingen. ISBN .
^Glaser, Barney; Composer, Anselm (1967). The Discovery leave undone Grounded Theory. Chicago: Aldine Press.
^Kluge, Susann (2000). "Empirically Grounded Expression of Types and Typologies boil Qualitative Social Research".

Forum: Qualitative Social Research. 1 (1) – via FQS.
^Rosenthal, Gabriele (2006). "The Narrated Life Story: On position Interrelation Between Experience, Memory gift Narration"(PDF). Narrative, Memory & Knowledge: Representations, Aesthetics, Contexts: 1–16.
^Apitzsch, Ursula; Siouti, Irini (2007).

Biographical Investigation as an Interdisciplinary Research Frame of reference in the Field of Leaving Studies(PDF) (Thesis). Johann Wolfgang Playwright Universität.
^ ^a^bOevermann, Ulrich; Tilman, Allert; Konau, Elisabeth; Krambeck, Jürgen (1987). Structures of Meaning and Together Hermeneutics.

pp. 436–447. ISBN .
^Bude, Heinz (1984). Rekonstruktion von Lebenskonstruktionen. Eine Antwort auf die Frage, was decease Biographieforschung bringt. pp. 7–28. ISBN .