Volume 5, No. 2, Art. 22 – May 2004
Editorial: The Current FQS Issue on Qualitative Market, Media and Opinion Research1)
Katja Mruck
Table of Contents
Dear Readers,
I would like to inform you that the 15th FQS Issue is now available online. FQS 5(2) examines theories, methods, and empirical studies in the field of qualitative market, media and opinion research. The contributions for this issue—important subjects yet not systemically documented until now—came from various scientific and business backgrounds: "After the 'qualitative' thinking and practice was increasingly established as successful in academic research areas, the qualitative methods then began gaining importance also in applied research and for business and political purposes." (MARLOVITZ, KÜHN & MRUCK 2004, Paragraph 3) [1]
The introductory article "The Exchange Between Academic and Applied Social Research" (MARLOVITZ et al. 2004) provides an overview and summary of the contributions published. We are indeed aware of the fact that FQS 5(2) is only a starting point as far as an international perspective and the broad spectrum of relevant topics in market, media and opinion research is concerned. (See MARLOVITZ et al. also for some "blind spots.") We nevertheless hope that this beginning encourages further discussion and collaboration among academic researchers and practitioners. [2]
In addition to the articles involving qualitative market, media and opinion research, FQS 5(2) also contains, as always, selected single contributions dealing with grounded theory, analyses of photographs, usage of poems for qualitative research, and qualitative evaluation methods for higher education. Subsequent articles explore the role regional television plays in shaping regional identities, the construction of sports narration, and pathways to treatment between traditional and scientific medicine. [3]
Four articles are featured in FQS Debates: "Micropolitics of Career Planning of Social Scientists" and "Doing Science—Doing Gender"; these two submissions contribute to the ongoing discussion in the FQS Debate on Ethnography of the Career Politics. The remaining two articles deal with qualitative research and ethics:
"To this date, we, editors of and contributors to FQS, have not engaged in a lot of public reflection on the ethical dimensions related to our daily research-related work. I therefore ... call for greater salience of relevant discussions. Because we constitute the community, our collective reflection not only will make ethical concerns more prominent but also move them along to make them more appropriate." (ROTH 2004, Paragraph 14)
FQS Reviews includes review notes and review essays on various themes addressing the integration of qualitative and quantitative research, metaphor analysis, and the construction of masculinity in an Austrian right-wing party. Two texts are available under FQS Conferences: one on a Methods Workshop, organized by the Centre for Women's, Gender and Queer Studies at the University of Hamburg, Germany, and another gives a summary of the British Psychological Society Annual Conference, held in April 2004 in London, UK. [4]
FQS 5(2) is adjourned by an article on "Open Access: (Social) Sciences as Public Good" (MRUCK, GRADMANN & MEY 2004). Readers, familiar with our work, will know that FQS had been a part of the open access movement since its very beginning (see for example MRUCK 2003 and http://www.qualitative-research.net/fqs/presse/info-e.htm). This article provides a brief introduction of the history, central concepts, barriers and perspectives of open access publishing. Since organizational and technological issues in this field are an important part of our work, we will continually update you regarding open access and its development concerning FQS in our monthly newsletter. [5]
We hope to have inspired you with FQS 5(2), and we look forward to receiving your comments and feedback!
Katja Mruck, FQS Editor
1) I would like to thank Tina PATEL for her help to make my English more understandable and for her work on the English parts of FQS! <back>
Marlovits, Andreas M.; Kühn, Thomas & Mruck, Katja (2004, May). The Exchange Between Academic and Applied Social Research: The Current State of Qualitative Market, Media and Opinion Research [17 paragraphs]. Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung / Forum: Qualitative Social Research [On-line Journal], 5(2), Art. 23. Available at: http://www.qualitative-research.net/fqs-texte/2-04/2-04hrsg-e.htm.
Mruck, Katja (2003, September). Editorial: The FQS-Issue "Doing Biographical Research". Four Years of Publishing FQS as an Example for Social Science Open Access Journals [14 paragraphs]. Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung / Forum: Qualitative Social Research [On-line Journal], 4(3), Art. 17. Available at: http://www.qualitative-research.net/fqs-texte/3-03/3-03mruck-e.htm.
Mruck, Katja; Gradmann, Stefan & Mey, Günter (2004, April). Open Access: (Social) Sciences as Public Good [32 paragraphs]. Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung / Forum: Qualitative Social Research [On-line Journal], 5(2), Art. 14. Available at: http://www.qualitative-research.net/fqs-texte/2-04/2-04mrucketal-e.htm.
Roth, Wolff-Michael (2004, March). Qualitative Research and Ethics [15 paragraphs]. Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung / Forum: Qualitative Social Research [On-line Journal], 5(2), Art. 7. Available at: http://www.qualitative-research.net/fqs-texte/2-04/2-04roth2-e.htm.
Mruck, Katja (2004). Editorial: The Current FQS Issue on Qualitative Market, Media and Opinion Research [5 paragraphs]. Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung / Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 5(2), Art. 22, http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs0402229.
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