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Probleme beim Verknüpfen von Theorie und Daten in der Histori-schen Soziologie und Längsschnittforschung«. Theory and data are closely linked in empirical research: Data are the main source for building and testing theories, and without theoretical focus, it is impossible to select and interpret data. Still, the relationship between theory and data...
Citations
... Early sociologists such as Max Weber naturally triangulated different data sources, modern sociologists have mainly based their research and methodological discussion on research elicited data International Journal of Social Science Research and Review Volume 6,Issue 8 August, 2023 (Baur, 2009). Researchers are collecting their own data which addresses their research questions. ...
... However, these limitations foster the integration of research elicited data. One of the main disadvantages of processed produced data is that the researcher cannot not control the process of data production and therefore must live with whatever blind spots the data has (Baur, 2009). This means that scholars using these data must use whatever information is collected since they were not part of the process of data production. ...
... The other limitation is that processed produced data usually has large volumes of data, which some of it cannot be used to address the research questions and theoretical questions. Data of any sort are a source for building and testing theories (Baur, 2009). It is important to note that processed produced data in its nature cannot address all the theoretical questions and this may point to a possibility that this may to some level affect possible links to data. ...
Processed produced data has always been criticized for its limitations and inability to address certain kinds of research questions because it is data not produced for research purposes. Process produced data such as administrative data collected by government ministries and organizations, constitute an important data source that can be useful in research, yet often not sufficient alone to answer different kinds of research questions, especially when they are used in isolation. Whilst these limitations are evident and indisputable, it is equally clear that such data can be effectively harnessed to answer specific types of research questions, and this paper offers an example of the usefulness of process produced data in studying juvenile delinquency. This paper intends to use the Botswana Youth Risk Behavioral and Biological Surveillance Survey (BYRBBSS II) by the Ministry of Basic Education as a form of process produced data set, to analyze the factors associated with juvenile delinquency in Botswana. Whilst this report provides a basis from which to launch the study, it cannot answer other uniquely qualitative research questions that would require thorough descriptions from the juveniles involved in these acts of deviance. This paper, therefore, uses this argument as a starting point to explore the possibilities and potentialities associated with combining process produced data with research elicited data, with the ultimate aim being to demonstrate how doing so offers more satisficing research results. Mixing Processed Produced Data and Research Elicited Data (interviews) is a methodological approach that has not yet been extensively applied in the context of Botswana, and therefore the paper will open discussions on the possibilities of conducting research in this manner, especially where process produced data sets are publicly accessible and available.
... Using this approach, we identified ten major events in our narrative in which the qualification was disrupted, and as a result, Bioland decided to take active measures to address the disruption. Our analysis of the disruption was theoretically pre-informed (Baur 2009) because we assumed that the stability and dynamics of qualification were best examined with a focus on its spatial and temporal dimensions. Thus, after specifying the subject of disruption, we used our data to determine its origin and trigger. ...
The qualities of standardised products are often perceived as naturally stable. This article scrutinises this perceived stability and investigates which aspects of standardised quality remain stable, and which change in the longer term. Our conceptual framework, anchored in the literature on standards and valuation studies, suggests that while standardised qualities appear to be stable over time and space, it is in these spatial and temporal dimensions of qualification that controversies and changes are expected. Empirically, we investigate the organic quality which has been maintained in the German mass market since the 1970s by the standard-setter Bioland. Searching our archival data for disruption that refers to events, which were interpreted by Bioland as reasons for adjusting the qualification, the data show that Bioland reacted swiftly to manifold disruption triggered by actors located along the production and distribution chain as well as outside it. Pooling Bioland’s responses, we identify four shifts in terms of the (1) meaning, (2) focus, (3) organisation, and (4) relationships of quality. Due to these long-term shifts, little except the name of the standardised quality remained stable. Thus, the article concludes that standardised qualification must be dynamic and changeable if it is to be stably relevant in markets.
... Their insights prompted me to interview members of hometown associations (HTAs) in the US cities of Houston and Los Angeles as part of the research. Primary data was triangulated and complemented with process-generated data (Baur, 2009), such as official and NGO reports, censuses, criminal justice data and secondary literature. ...
Extant research has analysed the impact of security policies, truces and informal agreements on both the dynamics and traits of organized violence in El Salvador. However, less is understood about variation in the levels of lethal violence across subnational units. This article contributes to filling this gap. Based on a case study of the municipality of Chalatenango, the analysis shows that community organization and translocal dynamics are crucial to explaining violence containment. Local communities have managed to control the levels of lethal violence and deter criminal actors amid a national context characterized by state neglect and chronic violence. Community organization is not territorially bound but extends across transnational networks. Migrants are a source of livelihoods for the local population; they also contribute to providing public goods and participate in local forms of organization. Transnational networks have forged a migration corridor that enables immigration to the United States. In addition, community organization informally contributes to the capacity of the local state to perform its functions, thereby shaping cooperative state-society relations. This analysis sheds new light on the conditions shaping the variation in levels of violence at the subnational level and local governance dynamics.
... The qualitative method applied in innovation research generally uses a case study approach through interviews or observing secondary data (case study). However, some primary data sources are rarely used, such as video data, focus groups, interview narratives, and panel survey data (Baur, 2009;Fiedler & Posch, 2009;Knoblauch et al., 2006;Lyndon & Schupp, 2015). On the other side, qualitative methods are often combined with quantitative methods in innovation studies because of the case study approach used. ...
p> Abstract
This paper intends to provide a general description of the position of a qualitative approach in the study of innovation policy and its possible expansion based on the experiences of experts from other disciplines. There is an important and urgent matter about improving young researchers' methodological skills in understanding complex innovation studies. By understanding and mastering various methodological skills, individual researchers, groups, or innovation study communities can provide comprehensive interpretations and insights from unit analysis to draw accurate conclusions in response to phenomena and planned research questions. Some of the research approaches suggested in this paper, namely ethnographic research and action research, require additional research skills in the field. The ethnographic approach and the participant approach allow young researchers to influence the research design by involving participants in the research in a planned manner. Therefore, it is appropriate to use a participatory approach as methodological enrichment in innovation studies. An ethnographic approach will benefit from the perspective of the innovation policy group. The qualitative approach described in this paper can be used in mixed methods, along with quantitative methods.
Keywords: qualitative methods, mixed-methods, innovation, policy studies
... 21, Nina Baur, Ignacio Castillo Ulloa, Stephen Mennell & Angela Million: The Refiguration of Spaces and the Refiguration of Epistemic Cultures: The Changing Balance of Involvement and Engagement in Fundamental and Applied Researchhistorical analyses of science-and on their specific epistemic culture. While much has been written on methods of social research, the role of social theory in social research(BAUR, 2009;LINDEMANN, 2008) and reflexive methodology(KNOBLAUCH, , 2021, as well as their relationship, there is a general lack of examples of how to actually achieve an empirical theory of science (BAUR, 2021) althoughMARGUIN and KNOBLAUCH (2021) recently suggested some techniques, such as ethnography of science, methodological experimenting, and sensitizing visits. In particular, hardly any reflections exist with regard to how different disciplines balance involvement and detachment and how this influences practices of comparison.[34] ...
The second FQS thematic issue on "The Refiguration of Spaces and Cross-Cultural Comparison" differs from the first as follows: 1. it covers a wider range of disciplines, 2. authors emphasize more strongly the spatial instead of the temporal aspects of the refiguration of spaces, and 3. focus is placed on researchers' practices of comparison rather than on how to compare different subject matters. These practices of comparison become particularly obvious when comparing "fundamental" sciences such as sociology with applied sciences such as urban planning. In research practice, researchers have to balance what Norbert ELIAS (2007 [1987]) called "involvement" and "detachment." In different disciplines with diverging epistemic cultures, involvement and detachment have been balanced differently. Using the examples of German-language sociology and urban planning, we illustrate this by discussing how fundamental and applied scientists weigh involvement and detachment in research practice and how this relationship of involvement and detachment has been changing in the course the refiguration of spaces. We conclude by reflecting on how differences in the balance between involvement and detachment in different epistemic cultures influence the relationship between practices of cross-cultural comparison and the refiguration of spaces, as well as what question should be asked in future research.
... 21, jan./jun. 2020 propriamente ditas, e de forma especial nas pesquisas em História (Baur, 2009;Weldon, 2015;Aronova et al., 2017). De acordo com a socióloga N. Baur (2009), os motivos para essas dificuldades seriam vários: 1) diferente dos sociólogos, os historiadores tradicionalmente têm uma percepção aguda de que a interpretação de seus dados depende, em boa parte, da perspectiva de análise tomada, bem como das especificidades próprias a diferentes períodos históricos e localizações geográficas. ...
... 2020 propriamente ditas, e de forma especial nas pesquisas em História (Baur, 2009;Weldon, 2015;Aronova et al., 2017). De acordo com a socióloga N. Baur (2009), os motivos para essas dificuldades seriam vários: 1) diferente dos sociólogos, os historiadores tradicionalmente têm uma percepção aguda de que a interpretação de seus dados depende, em boa parte, da perspectiva de análise tomada, bem como das especificidades próprias a diferentes períodos históricos e localizações geográficas. Ou, em outras palavras, o trabalho com dados históricos depende de algumas regras áureas para evitar interpretações normativas e enviesadas; 2) enquanto os sociólogos focam sua atenção em dados primários, resultantes, em geral, da pesquisa de campo, bem como em sua análise secundária (de maneira semelhante às ciências naturais), os historiadores buscam seus dados em bases documentais, com frequência resultantes de intricados processos históricos e, portanto, difíceis de extrair e analisar; 3) enquanto os historiadores colocam grande atenção em verificar todo e cada um de seus dados, os sociólogos visam à obtenção de amostragens de dados que sejam abrangentes. ...
O intenso trabalho de digitalização realizado desde os anos 90 disponibilizou vastíssimos corpora textuais, inclusive para acesso remoto. Mais recentemente, novos recursos informáticos vêm fornecendo possibilidades inéditas de estudos teóricos, contemplando, também, a modelagem de megadados para organização e classificação dos conhecimentos. O presente estudo de caso se inscreve num marco maior de cooperação internacional, destinado a tornar mais efetiva a pesquisa e o trabalho documental em história da ciência. Especificamente, seu objetivo é elaborar ferramentas que permitam a localização e reconhecimento de conceitos comuns a grupos de textos pertences a grandes bases de dados em e para a história da ciência, assim como a sua mudança em função do tempo, tendo em vista sua indexação e classificação.Palavras-chave: História da ciência. Humanidades Digitais. Organização e classificação do conhecimento. Corpora textuais. Modelagem e mineração de dados. Linguística computacional.
... Crime data derived from official statistics underlie several biases that root in the way they are generated, classified, and processed (Graeff & Baur, 2020). A major drawback is their feature that official statistics were not assembled for scientific reasons (Baur, 2009). Moreover, they merely reflect the (highly selected) official figures of crime and do not take the unknown rate of dark figures into consideration (Brame, Turner, & Paternoster, 2010). ...
Are Catholics more inclined to violate social norms than Protestants? A tentative answer is yes due to this confession's attitude towards absolution of sins. Opportunities existed for Christians around Reformation times, for example as sales of indulgences. Catholics and Protestants arguably differed historically in their understanding of whether penitence is feasible or not, resulting in different conditions under which Catholics and Protestants decide in situations of social exchange. This is illustrated by ethical game theory and exemplified by historical data. The analysis points to the tentative suggestion that religious socialisation can affect social payoffs of crime and social trust in a long‐term perspective.
... In order to establish how social theory and empirical research should be linked, one first has to define what "social theory" actually is (Kalthoff, 2008). This is important as theories differ in their level of abstraction and at least three types of theories can be distinguished (Lindemann, 2008;Baur, 2009c;Baur and Ernst, 2011): 1. Social Theories ("Sozialtheorien"), such as analytical sociology, systems theory, communicative constructivism, actor network theory or figurational sociology, contain general concepts about what society is, which concepts are central to analysis (e.g., actions, interactions, communication), what the nature of reality is, what assumptions have to be made in order to grasp this reality and how-on this basis-theory and data can be linked on a general level. 2. Middle-range theories ("Theorien begrenzter Reichweite") concentrate on a specific thematic field, a historical period and a geographical region. ...
... These types of theories are entwined in a very typical way during the research process. Namely, all social science methodologies are constructed in a way that social theory is used to build, test and advance middle-range theories and theories of society (Lindemann, 2008;Baur, 2009c). Therefore, social theory is a prerequisite for social research as it helps researchers decide which data they need and which analysis procedure is appropriate for answering their research question (Baur, 2005(Baur, , 2008. ...
This Research Topic focuses on the questions “behind” empirical research in the social sciences,especially in psychology, sociology and education, and presents various ideas about the nature ofempirical knowledge and the values knowledge is or should be based on.The questions raised in the contributions are central for empirical research, especially withrespect to disciplinary and epistemological diversity among researchers. This diversity is alsomirrored by the variety of article types collected in this issue, “Hypotheses & Theory,” “Methods,”“Conceptual Analyses,” “Review,” “Opinion,” “Commentary,” and “Book Review.” [Excerpt from the editorial]
... This part is considered as the very essential aspect to understand the linkages between theory. In order to do so, we applied the Baur (2009) type of theory in the process to determine the types of theory that are used and how the linkages between the theories could perform. Next, we briefly explained about the concept of each theory, and at the end of the paper, we provided with the new theoretical lenses that could extend the socio-cultural network based on the open innovation and EO which latter provided for the path of the theoretical integration. ...
... Next, we briefly explained about the concept of each theory, and at the end of the paper, we provided with the new theoretical lenses that could extend the socio-cultural network based on the open innovation and EO which latter provided for the path of the theoretical integration. Baur (2009) stated that "theorists usually talk about theories, methodologists talk about data. As data are the main source for building and testing theories, and as it is impossible to select and interpret data without theoretical concept" (p. ...
... Thus, in order to build a theoretical concept that has the integration of theories, the most important thing beforehand is to understand the type of theory. In regard to that matter, Baur (2009) have proposed three types of theory (social theories, middle-range theories, and theories of society), and the explanation on how all these types of theory could be linked together. ...
The socio-cultural network has provided an important theoretical contribution toward the understanding of the concept of actors and cultural elements to be nodes together, and consequently affect the entrepreneurial activity. However, the socio-cultural network theory seems to be less concern and remain understudied in the respect of the innovation perspectives. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to integrate, from a theoretical perspective, the socio-cultural network and open innovation altogether for explaining the entrepreneurial orientation. In this sense, this paper points out that the open innovation approach could be apt in the socio-cultural network framework to develop future research in analysing the decisions of entrepreneurial orientation.
... In order to establish how social theory and empirical research should be linked, one first has to define what "social theory" actually is (Kalthoff, 2008). This is important as theories differ in their level of abstraction and at least three types of theories can be distinguished (Lindemann, 2008;Baur, 2009c;Baur and Ernst, 2011): 1. Social Theories ("Sozialtheorien"), such as analytical sociology, systems theory, communicative constructivism, actor network theory or figurational sociology, contain general concepts about what society is, which concepts are central to analysis (e.g., actions, interactions, communication), what the nature of reality is, what assumptions have to be made in order to grasp this reality and how-on this basis-theory and data can be linked on a general level. 2. Middle-range theories ("Theorien begrenzter Reichweite") concentrate on a specific thematic field, a historical period and a geographical region. ...
... These types of theories are entwined in a very typical way during the research process. Namely, all social science methodologies are constructed in a way that social theory is used to build, test and advance middle-range theories and theories of society (Lindemann, 2008;Baur, 2009c). Therefore, social theory is a prerequisite for social research as it helps researchers decide which data they need and which analysis procedure is appropriate for answering their research question (Baur, 2005(Baur, , 2008. ...
Methodological discussions often oversimplify by distinguishing between “the” quantitative and “the” qualitative paradigm and by arguing that quantitative research processes are organized in a linear, deductive way while qualitative research processes are organized in a circular and inductive way. When comparing two selected quantitative traditions (survey research and big data research) with three qualitative research traditions (qualitative content analysis, grounded theory and social-science hermeneutics), a much more complex picture is revealed: The only differentiation that can be upheld is how “objectivity” and “intersubjectivity” are defined. In contrast, all research traditions agree that partiality is endangering intersubjectivity and objectivity. Countermeasures are self-reflexion and transforming partiality into perspectivity by using social theory. Each research tradition suggests further countermeasures such as falsification, triangulation, parallel coding, theoretical sensitivity or interpretation groups. When looking at the overall organization of the research process, the distinction between qualitative and quantitative research cannot be upheld. Neither is there a continuum between quantitative research, content analysis, grounded theory and social-science hermeneutics. Rather, grounded theory starts inductively and with a general research question at the beginning of analysis which is focused during selective coding. The later research process is organized in a circular way, making strong use of theoretical sampling. All other traditions start research deductively and formulate the research question as precisely as possible at the beginning of the analysis and then organize the overall research process in a linear way. In contrast, data analysis is organized in a circular way. One consequence of this paper is that mixing and combining qualitative and quantitative methods becomes both easier (because the distinction is not as grand as it seems at first sight) and more difficult (because some tricky issues of mixing specific to mixing specific types of methods are usually not addressed in mixed methods discourse).
