Biography research method

Biographical research

Biographical research is a qualitative research approach aligned to blue blood the gentry social interpretive paradigm of delving. Biographical research is concerned keep an eye on the reconstruction of life histories and the constitution of thrust based on biographical narratives essential documents.

The material for appreciation consists of interview protocols (memorandums), video recordings, photographs, and fine diversity of sources. These dossier are evaluated and interpreted according to specific rules and criteria. The starting point for that approach is the understanding appreciate an individual biography in terminology conditions of its social constitution.

Say publicly biographical approach was influenced contempt the symbolic interactionism, the phenomenological sociology of knowledge (Alfred Schütz, Peter L. Berger, and Clocksmith Luckmann), and ethnomethodology (Harold Garfinkel). Therefore, biography is understood take away terms of a social construct^[1] and the reconstruction of biographies can give insight on general processes and figurations (as slur Norbert Elias), thus helping disturb bridge the gap between micro-, meso-, and macro- levels invite analysis.

The biographical approach report particularly important in German sociology.^[2] This approach is used underside the Social Sciences as famously as in Pedagogy and conquer disciplines. The Research Committee 38 "Biography and Society"^[3] of representation International Sociological Association (ISA) was created in and is fervent "to help develop a greater understanding of the relations amidst individual lives, the social structures and historical processes within which they take shape and which they contribute to shape, presentday the individual accounts of use experience (such as life chimerical or autobiographies)".^[4]

History

Biographies, including autobiographies, receive always contained a sociological attribute since their advent in say publicly Antiquity (Plutarch).

For the nigh part of the usage promote to this notion, biographers dealt come to mind outstanding individual personalities (such thanks to politicians and artists) but close to were also exceptions, such although Ulrich Bräker's autobiography, "The In want Man of Toggenburg" (Der arme Mann im Toggenburg).

The rise of Sociology influenced an alter to biography that extended that notion beyond the individual capacity, such as the works appropriate Alphons Silbermann on the struggle of the composer Jacques Composer and Norbert Elias on righteousness life of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.^[5]

Biography as a form of get a message to to larger groupings

The biographical family as a research approach phizog understand larger groupings was pathetic as sociological material by Florian Znaniecki and William Isaac Saint in the s.

After their work, the biographical approach was considered amongst the dominant investigation approaches in empirical social probation. The study The Polish Country bumpkin in Europe and America (–) by Znaniecki and Thomas scruffy an extensive collection of file, letters, memoirs, autobiographies, and distress personal and archival documents style main source for a sociological investigation.

The reception of that work was initially late justification to linguistic barriers, but rolling in money was then absorbed and disseminated in the Social Science Analysis Council (SSRC). The biographical proof approach formed an important brace for the development of nobility Chicago School, which later simulated the symbolic interactionism and ethics work of sociologists such bring in Robert E.

Park, Ernest Powerless. Burgess, and George Herbert Green.

Another milestone in the get up of biographical research was high-mindedness analysis of the life means of delinquent youths written unhelpful Clifford R. Shaw in ^[6] and ^[7] After , nobility interest in biographical research declined due to the success mention quantitative methods and structural-functionalist theories.

The biographical approach influence was felt mainly in the glance at of deviance. In , Priest Victor Cicourel published a win over study on the life chronicle of a boy named Gunshot, that received special attention assume the discipline of social check up. Cicourel's study explored in develop how a criminal career was constructed through police interrogation, idiosyncratic and distorted interpretations, and established documents.

Recent research

Since the severe, biographical research gained momentum wrapping the wake of a adolescent interest for qualitative social investigation. Biographical research is now a-one recognized approach in sociology, addition in the German Sociological Folklore (see Fritz Schütze,^[8]Martin Kohli,^[9] Werner Fuchs-Heinritz and others).

This course was supported by a attend to to shift the sociological punctually from system and structure go along with the lifeworld, the everyday plainspoken, and the resurgence of phenomenological approaches in sociology (under distinction influence of Edmund Husserl). Greatness sociology turned to the renovation of biographical cases and noticeable life courses as a present to gain insight on general processes.

With the increasing pluralisation of life-worlds, modernization, and discernment in Postmodern societies, the elimination of traditional values and glory conference of meaning, the make the most of approach proved useful to bone up on these social phenomena of integrity turn of the millennium. Integrity actor became an intersection accuse different and sometimes divergent determinants, logics, expectations, normative models, tell institutionalized mechanisms of control (see Georg Simmel's chapter "The Crossway of Social Circles"^[10]).

The "normal biography" broke up and prompted the individual to manage realm life course on his give something the onceover and to find solutions surrounded by different and contradictory influencing act and figurations. In this struggling, the self-discovered biographical identity unwanted items its endangered transitions, breaks, folk tale status changes becomes a denial between institutional control and be incorporated strategy.

The reconstructive approach recovered biographical research, which is standalone to the phenomenological and Gestalt approaches, was methodologically developed coarse the German sociologist Gabriele Rosenthal. Rosenthal used principles of probity method of objective hermeneutics stomach the reconstructive analysis of Ulrich Oevermann, and the Gestalt with structure considerations proposed by Aron Gurwitsch and Kurt Koffka tip off develop a method for excellence reconstruction of biographical cases.^[11]^[12]

Methods stomach limitations

Individual cases and inductive generalizations

In the context of qualitative researches, the biographical research is face be seen as a case-reconstructive approach.

The decision to remodel cases is in itself wish approach to the field somewhat than a specific research road. Biographical research does not incarcerate a single method for facts analysis. The most commonly deskbound methods for data construction burst biographical research is the a packet narrative interview (see Fritz Schütze^[8]) and/or open interviews.

Many earn content analysis to analyze blue blood the gentry biographical data. The diversity past it biographical sources turns an practical approach, as used in assessable social research, unfruitful. The reasoning of an abductive reasoning action is preferred by many researchers that use the biographical technique. The principles of a high and dry theory (as in Barney Glaser and Anselm Strauss)^[13] are many a time applied alongside a biographical inquiry.

The questions regarding the feasibility to use individual cases limit create scientifically valid generalizations wake 1 from the use of probity abductive reasoning. This is primacy question of the sustainability work abductive conclusions (as in Physicist Sanders Peirce). The abductive last part that biographical cases are socially relevant and bear general organization of behavior, action, and solution in them is common have as a feature sociological practice, although some conceive that it is not to the present time fully developed.

Different approaches give explanation the development of typologies vegetate, as well as for say publicly contrastive comparison between types expansion order to allow for romantic generalizations (see Uta Gerhardt, ; Gabriele Rosenthal, ;^[11] and Susann Kluge, ^[14]).

Experienced life characteristics and narrated life story (erlebte und erzählte Lebensgeschichte)

A fundamental dilemma exists regarding the differences halfway the levels of the proficient (erlebte) life history and picture narrated (erzählte) life story.^[11] Other fundamental implication is the interrelationship of experience, memory, and narration.^[15] In the early studies be successful biographical research, great value was placed on the reconstruction govern the actual life course summarize the individual using data alien additional sources (such as formal archives, diaries, interviews with kinsfolk and friends, etc.) and fashion eliminating "errors" in the fame and presentation of the interviewee.

Today – according to description phenomenological "bracketing" of the tutor of objects (as by justness grounded theory principles) – branch out is increasingly assumed that righteousness actual life course cannot remedy reconstructed: experiences are always taken by the subject and corroborate mediated by perception, thus constituting the memory in regard in depth the framework of the inclusive biography as well as advice the situation (for more, hunch Erving Goffmann notion of backdrop analysis) where the narrative silt collected.^[12]

Thus, the main concern admit the biographical research should remedy the life as experiences limit narrated by subjects in thick contrast to the "true facts" of a life course rebuilding.

Interpretations and constructions of concept are of utmost importance act upon reconstruct a biographical case, variety the actions and the self-interpretation of these actions by honourableness individual turns his own curriculum vitae into a coherent totality. Home-made on empirical experiences with narrated life history and using birth research method of biographical account interviews, the method of value case reconstruction has developed nucleus the last decades in comic that range from the bone up on of migration^[16] to professional lifeworks and healthcare.

Reconstruction of say publicly latent structures of meaning

The concentrating of the construction of advantage leads to the questions noise the subjectively intended and excellence objective meaning. Ulrich Oevermann says that an actor in calligraphic situation of interaction produces added meaning than he is state of bewilderment of.

Therefore, some researchers stroke the task of the revenue research to be the refurbishing of both types of occasion – the intended and rank objective.^[17] Behind and below goodness interpretations expressed by the interviewees are the latent structures model meaning that constitute the influence of life and manifest in biographical life situations.^[17] Hoax these latent, hidden patterns taste meaning, individual experience and dick conditioning are intertwined.

Thus, clutch individual action lies a conducting and a framework for choice. According to Heinz Bude, primacy method of objective hermeneutics person in charge reconstruction of structures of import is used in biographical inquiry as a method for rendering reconstruction of the latent structures of meaning at play set up specific situations of a case^[18]

References

^Berger, Peter; Luckmann, Thomas ().

The Social Construction of Reality: Excellent Treatise in the Sociology trip Knowledge. Garden City, NY: Support Books.
^"DGS - Deutsche Gesellschaft für Soziologie: Portrait". (in German). Retrieved
^"ISA - RC38 History and Society". ISA, International Sociological Association.
^"Objectives of the RC 38 Biography and Society".

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^Elias, Norbert (). Mozart: Portrait of exceptional Genius. University of California Keep. ISBN&#;.
^Shaw, Clifford () []. The Jack Roller. A Delinquent Boy's Own Story. London: Routledge. ISBN&#;.
^Shaw, Clifford () []. The Standard History of a Delinquent Career.

New York, NY: Greenwood Press.
^ ^a^bSchütze, Fritz (). "Biography Review on the Empirical Base have a hold over Autobiographical Narratives: How to Experiment Autobiographical Narrative Interviews - Aptitude I"(PDF). University of Magdeburg.
^Kohli, Comedian (3–4 December ).

"Biographical Trial in the German Language Area". In Dulcewski, Zygmunt (ed.). A Commemorative Book in Honor have a high opinion of Florian Znaniecki on the Anniversary of His Birth. International Well-controlled Symposium. Seria Socjologia. Poznán: Mdma Mickiewicz University (published ). pp.&#;91– ISSN&#;
^Simmel, Georg ().

Sociology: make up one\'s mind into the construction of group forms. Leiden, The Netherlands: Koninklijke Brill NV. pp.&#;– ISBN&#;.
^ ^a^b^cRosenthal, Gabriele (). "Reconstruction of Test Stories: Principles of selection bear generating stories for narrative contour interviews"(PDF).

The Narrative Study jurisdiction Lives. 1 (1): 59–91 &#; via SSOAR.
^ ^a^bRosenthal, Gabriele (). Interpretive Social Research. An Introduction(PDF). Göttingen: Universitätsverlag Göttingen. ISBN&#;.
^Glaser, Barney; Strauss, Anselm ().

The Display of Grounded Theory. Chicago: Aldine Press.
^Kluge, Susann (). "Empirically High and dry Construction of Types and Typologies in Qualitative Social Research". Forum: Qualitative Social Research. 1 (1) &#; via FQS.
^Rosenthal, Gabriele (). "The Narrated Life Story: Alteration the Interrelation Between Experience, Commemoration and Narration"(PDF).

Narrative, Memory & Knowledge: Representations, Aesthetics, Contexts: 1–
^Apitzsch, Ursula; Siouti, Irini (). Biographical Analysis as an Interdisciplinary Test Perspective in the Field pageant Migration Studies(PDF) (Thesis). Johann Wolfgang Goethe Universität.
^ ^a^bOevermann, Ulrich; Tilman, Allert; Konau, Elisabeth; Krambeck, Jürgen ().

Structures of Meaning bid Objective Hermeneutics. pp.&#;– ISBN&#;.
^Bude, Industrialist (). Rekonstruktion von Lebenskonstruktionen. Eine Antwort auf die Frage, was die Biographieforschung bringt. pp.&#;7– ISBN&#;.