Analytic induction

Analytic induction

Analytic induction refers to a systematic examination of similarities between various social phenomena in order to develop concepts or ideas. Social scientists doing social research use analytic induction to search for those similarities in broad categories and then develop subcategories. For example, social scientist may examine the category of 'marijuana users' and then develop subcategories for 'uses marijuana for pleasure' and 'uses marijuana for health reasons'. If no relevant similarities can be identified, then either the data needs to be reevaluated and the definition of similarities changed, or the category is too wide and heterogeneous and should be narrowed down. (Ragin 1994)

In the earlier sociological papers (from 1940s and 1950s) this term could also be used to mean the search for "universals" in social life, where "universal" meant an invariant, complete, positivistic propriety (i.e. "all black males between 35 and 40 vote for Democrats"). (Ragin 1994)

This principle was formulated in 1934 by Florian Znaniecki. He formulated it to identify universal propositions and causal laws. He contrasted it with enumerative research, which provided mere correlations and could not account for exceptions in statistical relationships. This procedure was refined by Alfred Lindesmith (1947) and Donald Cressey (1950) in their respective studies of opiate addiction and embezzlers, and was used by Howard S. Becker (1963) in his study of marijuana users. (Taylor & Bogdan 1998) Eventually it became one of the classic research methods in ethnography.

Znaniecki wrote that this procedure, known to natural sciences (if never named so) involves "inducing laws from a deep analysis of experimentally isolated instances" and can be contrasted with defining and using terms in advance of research. Therefore it is a method involving inductive reasoning (rather than deductive). Analytic induction allows for modification of social concepts and their relationships throughout the process of doing research, with the goal of most accurately representing the reality of the situation. [http://www.vanguard.edu/uploadedFiles/faculty/dratcliff/analytic.html]

References

* Charles C. Ragin, "Constructing Social Research: The Unity and Diversity of Method", Pine Forge Press, 1994, ISBN 0-8039-9021-9
* Steven J. Taylor, Robert Bogdan, "Introduction to Qualitative Research Methods", John Wiley & Sons, 1998, ISBN 0-471-16868-8

External links

* [http://www.vanguard.edu/uploadedFiles/faculty/dratcliff/analytic.html Analytic Induction as a Qualitative Research Method of Analysis] by Donald E. Ratcliff

Further reading

* Robinson (1951), American Sociological Review, Vol 16, no 6, pgs 812-818 Znaniecki, F. (1934). The method of sociology.]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • analytic induction — A logic of qualitative research which employs a systematic and exhaustive examination of a limited number of cases in order to provide generalizations. Donald Cressey, who employs the logic in his book Other People s Money (1953), suggests the… …   Dictionary of sociology

  • induction — induction, inductive The inverse of deduction . Induction begins from particular observations from which empirical generalizations are made. These generalizations then form the basis for theory building. So called analytic induction is common in… …   Dictionary of sociology

  • Analytic — See also: Analysis Contents 1 Natural sciences 2 Philosophy 3 Social sciences …   Wikipedia

  • Induction — • Induction is the conscious mental process by which we pass from the perception of particular phenomena (things and events) to the knowledge of general truths Catholic Encyclopedia. Kevin Knight. 2006. Induction     Induction …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • Analytic number theory — In mathematics, analytic number theory is a branch of number theory that uses methods from mathematical analysis to solve number theoretical problems. [Page 7 of Apostol 1976] It is often said to have begun with Dirichlet s introduction of… …   Wikipedia

  • Non-analytic smooth function — In mathematics, smooth functions (also called infinitely differentiable functions) and analytic functions are two very important types of functions. One can easily prove that any analytic function of a real argument is smooth. The converse is not …   Wikipedia

  • inductive — induction, inductive The inverse of deduction . Induction begins from particular observations from which empirical generalizations are made. These generalizations then form the basis for theory building. So called analytic induction is common in… …   Dictionary of sociology

  • Humanistic sociology — is a domain of sociology which originated mainly from the work of University of Chicago Polish philosopher turned sociologist, Florian Znaniecki. It is a methodology which treats its objects of study and its studiers, that is, humans, as… …   Wikipedia

  • Project NEXUS — is a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant funded project based at the University of Maryland, College Park and headed by Principal Investigator Dr. J. Randy McGinnis. Its purpose is to investigate an innovative model of teacher preparation.… …   Wikipedia

  • Social research — refers to research conducted by social scientists (primarily within sociology and social psychology), but also within other disciplines such as social policy, human geography, political science, social anthropology and education. Sociologists and …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”