Qualitative Methods at the Crossroads: Recent Developments in Interpretive Social Research

Abstract

Looking at the development of qualitative methods in the long run one can see their successful dissemination across a variety of disciplines. As a consequence of this dissemination, qualitative methods have been institutionalized within the social sciences and beyond. This institutionalization led to an increasing tendency to standardization. Standardization, however, stands in strong contrast to the original idées diréctrices of qualitative methods which have been based on the interpretive paradigm in the social sciences. This contrast constitutes the crossroads at which qualitative methods are required to focus on the role of interpretation, subjectivity, and methodological creativity which constitute their identity.

URN: http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs1303128