Abstract
Interpretative qualitative social science has attempted to distinguish itself from quantitative social science by rejecting traditional or ‘received’ notions of generalization. Traditional concepts of scientific generalization it is claimed are based on a misguided objectivism as to the mechanisms operating in the social world, and particularly the ability of statements to capture such mechanisms in any abstract sense. Instead they propose new versions of the generalizability concept e.g. ‘transferability’, which relies on the context dependent judgement of ‘fit’ between two or more cases instances made by a researcher. This paper argues that the transferability concept, as outlined and argued by interpretativist methodologists, is thoroughly coextensive with notions of generalizability formalized for natural science and naturalistic social science by philosophers and methodologists of science. Therefore, it may be concluded that the interpretativist claim to a break with received scientific traditions is a premature one, at least with regard to the issue of generalization.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aristotle (1928). The Oxford Translation of Aristotle, Vol. 1 (translated and edited by G. R. G. Mure). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Churchland P. (1979). Scientific Realism and the Plasticity of Mind. Cambridge, MA, Cambridge University Press
Cook T., Campbell D.T. (1979). Quasi-Experimentation: Design and Analysis Issues for Field Settings. Chicago, Rand McNally
Cronbach L.J. (1975). Beyond the two disciplines of scientific psychology. American Psychologist 30:116–127
Denzin N. (1983). Interpretive interactionism. In: Morgan G. (eds) Beyond Method: Strategies for Social Research. Beverly Hills, CA, Sage Publications
Denzin N.K., Lincoln Y.S. (1994). Introduction: entering the field of qualitative research. In: Denzin N.K., Lincoln Y.S. (eds) Handbook of Qualitative Research. Thousand Oaks, CA, Sage Publications
Donmoyer R. (1990). Generalizability and the single case study. In: Eisner E.W., Peshkin A. (eds) Qualitative Inquiry in Education: The Continuing Debate. New York, Teachers College Press
Friedman M. (1974). Explanation and scientific understanding. Journal of Philosophy 71:5–19
Geertz C. (1973). The Interpretation of Culture. New York, Basic Books
Goodman N. (1955). Fact, Fiction and Forecast. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press
Guba E.G., Lincoln Y.S. (1994). Competing paradigms in qualitative research. In: Denzin N.K., Lincoln Y.S. (eds) Handbook of Qualitative Research. Thousand Oaks, CA, Sage Publications
Gutting G. (1982). Scientific realism versus constructive empiricism: a dialogue. The Monist 65:336–349
Hume, D. (1972 [1739]). A Treatise on Human Nature. London: Fontana.
Kincaid H. (1996). Philosophical Foundations of the Social Sciences: Analyzing Controversies in Social Research. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press
Lincoln Y.S., Guba E.G. (1985). Naturalistic Inquiry. Beverly Hills, CA, Sage Publications
Lincoln Y.S., Guba E.G. (2000). The only generalization is: there is no generalization. In: Gomm R., Hammersley M., Foster P. (eds) Case Study Method. London, Sage Publications
McMullin E. (1984). A case for scientific realism. In: Leplin J. (eds) Scientific Realism. Berkeley, University of California Press
Rescher N. (1970). Scientific Explanation. New York, Free Press
Rosenberg A. (1980). Sociobiology and the Preemption of Social Science. Baltimore, Johns Hopkins University
Schwandt T. (1994). Constructivist, interpretativist approaches to human inquiry. In: Denzin N.K., Lincoln Y.S. (eds) Handbook of Qualitative Research. Thousand Oaks, CA, Sage Publications
Sellars W. (1963). Science, Perception and Reality. New York, Humanities
Stake R. (1994). Case studies. In: Denzin N.K., Lincoln Y.S. (eds) Handbook of Qualitative Research. Thousand Oaks, CA, Sage Publications
Stake, R. (2000 [1978]). The case study method in social inquiry. In: R. Gomm, M. Hammersley & P. Foster (eds.), Case Study Method. London: Sage Publications.
Steel D. (2004). Social mechanisms and causal inference. Philosophy of the Social Sciences 34:55–78
Taylor C. (1994). Interpretation and the sciences of man. In: Martin M., McIntyre L. (eds) Readings in the Philosophy of Social Science. Cambridge, MA, MIT Press
Williams M. (1998). The social world as knowable. In: May T., Williams M. (eds) Knowing the Social World. Buckingham, Open University Press
Williams M. (2000). Science and Social Science. London, Routledge
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hellström, T. Transferability and Naturalistic Generalization: New Generalizability Concepts for Social Science or Old Wine in New Bottles?. Qual Quant 42, 321–337 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-006-9048-0
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-006-9048-0