Measurement, Meanings and Social Research Based on Interviews

Abstract

We believe that empirical sociology can usefully be divided into three areas: — variable-centred, structure- or network-centred, and meaning-centred. Variable-centred research is the study of individuals and organisations, treating each one as an isolated unit, which has scores on a number of characteristics (variables). A powerful armoury of modern statistical techniques is available to aid the investigator, but the fiction that each unit of analysis is quite separate from any other unit is sometimes difficult to maintain belief in. Structure- or network-centred analysis is the study of systematic aspects of the relationships between individual persons, or between organisations. Thirdly, there is meaning-centred analysis, where interest is focused upon the varying interpretations people make of their social situations, and on how these interpretations relate to social action.