Which Way Ahead? A Commentary on Recent Developments in German-Speaking "Qualitative" Social Research

Abstract

In this commentary I will focus on issues raised in my articles published in FQS (2002 and 2005) on the present state of the discussion in German-speaking interpretive sociology to which I will add a "tour d'horizon" of the corresponding state of affairs in some neighboring disciplines. After this "tour d'horizon" I will raise the questions (a) In what direction will genuine interpretive empirical research in the social sciences move? and (b) Is interpretive empirical research able to move and all? I will conclude by discussing the answers to both of these questions and their consequences for interpretive empirical research. URN: urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs070344