The Extended Case Method

In this article I elaborate and codify the extended case method, which deploys participant observation to locate everyday life in its extralocal and historical context. The extended case method emulates a reflexive model of science that takes as its premise the intersubjectivity of scientist and sub...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Sociological theory 1998-03, Vol.16 (1), p.4-33
Main Author: Burawoy, Michael
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Capitalism
Case Studies
Colonialism
Ethnography
Expatriates
History, theory and methodology
Methodology
Methodology (Philosophical)
Mining Industry
Observational research
Participant observation
Positivism
Reflexivity
Research Methodology
Social reflexivity
Social sciences
Social structures
Social theories
Social theory
Sociological research
Sociological theory
Sociology
Survey research
Zambia
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:In this article I elaborate and codify the extended case method, which deploys participant observation to locate everyday life in its extralocal and historical context. The extended case method emulates a reflexive model of science that takes as its premise the intersubjectivity of scientist and subject of study. Reflexive science valorizes intervention, process, structuration, and theory reconstruction. It is the Siamese twin of positive science that proscribes reactivity, but upholds reliability, replicability, and representativeness. Positive science, exemplified by survey research, works on the principle of the separation between scientists and the subjects they examine. Positive science is limited by "context effects" (interview, respondent, field, and situational effects) while reflexive science is limited by "power effects" (domination, silencing, objectification, and normalization). The article concludes by considering the implications of having two models of science rather than one, both of which are necessarily flawed. Throughout I use a study of postcolonialism to illustrate both the virtues and the shortcomings of the extended case method. Methodology can only bring us reflective understanding of the means which have demonstrated their value in practice by raising them to the level of explicit consciousness; it is no more the precondition of fruitful intellectual work than the knowledge of anatomy is the precondition of "correct" walking.
ISSN:0735-2751
1467-9558
DOI:10.1111/0735-2751.00040