This book demonstrates the relevance, rigor, and creativity of interpretive research methodologies for the social and human sciences. Designed for use either in a course devoted to interpretive or qualitative research methods or in a course in which the instructor seeks a balance between positivist and interpretive approaches, the book situates methods questions within the context of broader methodological questions-specifically, the character of social realities and their "know-ability." Exceptionally clear and well-written chapters provide engaging discussions of the methods of accessing, generating, and analyzing social science data, using methods ranging from reflexive historical analysis to critical ethnography. Reflecting on their own research experiences, the contributors offer an inside, applied perspective on how research topics, evidence, and methods intertwine to produce knowledge in the social sciences. New in the Second Edition, Revisions and updates can be found in every chapter, but the primary enhancement in this edition is the addition of five new chapters: Figuring Authority, Authorizing Statistics (Kirstie M. McClure), Working with Concepts: Challenging the Language-Reality Dichotomy (Douglas C. Dow), Don't Judge a Cartoon by Its Image: Interpretive Approaches to the Study of Political Cartoons (Ilan Danjoux), On Not Just Finding What You (Thought You) Were Looking For: Reflections on Fieldwork Data and Theory (Cai Wilkinson), "May I See Your Color-Coded Badge?" Reflections on Research with "Vulnerable" Communities (Michael Orsini), Praise for Interpretation and Method, Second Edition Cover Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Table of Contents Acknowledgments Wherefore "Interpretive?" An Introduction I. Meaning and Methodology 1. Thinking Interpretively Philosophical Presuppositions and the Human Sciences 2. Contending Conceptions of Science and Politics Methodology and the Constitution of the Political 3. Figuring Authority, Authorizing Statistics 4. Working with Concepts Challenging the Language-Reality Dichotomy 5. Generalization in Comparative and Historical Social Science The Difference That Interpretivism Makes 6. Neither Rigorous nor Objective? Interrogating Criteria for Knowledge Claims in Interpretive Science 7. Judging Quality Evaluative Criteria and Epistemic Communities II. Generating Data 8. Talking Our Way to Meaningful Explanations A Practice-Centered View of Interviewing for Interpretive Research 9. Ordinary Language Interviewing 10. Seeing with an Ethnographic Sensibility Explorations Beneath the Surface of Public Policies 11. Ethnography, Identity, and the Production of Knowledge 12. High Politics and Low Data Globalization Discourses and Popular Culture 13. The Numeration of Events Studying Political Protest in India III. Analyzing Data 14. Making Sense of Making Sense Configurational Analysis and the Double Hermeneutic 15. Studying the Careers of Knowledge Claims A Guide 16. Critical Interpretation and Interwar Peace Movements Challenging Dominant Narratives 17. Political Science as History A Reflexive Approach 18. Value-Critical Policy Analysis The Case of Language Policy in the United States 19. Stories for Research 20. Don’t Judge a Cartoon by Its Image Interpretive Approaches to the Study of Political Cartoons 21. How Built Spaces Mean A Semiotics of Space 22. On Not Just Finding What You (Thought You) Were Looking For Reflections on Fieldwork Data and Theory 23. “May I See Your Color-Coded Badge?” Reflections on Research with “Vulnerable” Communities IV. Re-Recognizing the Human Sciences Through Interpretive Methodologies 24. We Call It a Grain of Sand The Interpretive Orientation and a Human Social Science 25. Doing Social Science in a Humanistic Manner References Abut the Editors and Contributors Index
