Methodological Implications of Phenomenological Life-World Analysis
Series
Contributions to Phenomenology
ISBN
978-94-007-6033-2
Type
book section
Date Issued
2014
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Staudigl, Michael
Berguno, George
Abstract
The main goal of Alfred Schutz's phenomenological life-world analysis was to provide a philosophical foundation to the methodology of the social sciences. Schutz formulated several methodological postulates for social-scientific constructs. The postulate of adequacy is the most crucial one as it bridges common-sense and science, or life-world analysis and social theory. Many social scientists are not aware of the fact that the postulate of causal adequacy originated in statistics and jurisprudence and was introduced to sociology by Max Weber, and that Weber coined the postulate of meaning adequacy in analogy to it. Schutz built on Weber's methodological postulates but argues against causal adequacy and only adopts meaning adequacy for social scientific constructs of social actions. As Schutz's postulate of adequacy remains loosely formulated, I propose a more radical and restrictive interpretation that can be used as an effective criterion for evaluating research approaches as well as empirical studies. Quoting from unpublished letters of Schutz's correspondence in which he criticizes the approach of Austrian Economics, I argue that Schutz would sympathize with such a radicalized interpretation, although he never admitted that in public. Finally, some recent developments of qualitative research approaches are presented that are based on Schutz's life-world analysis and which attempt to achieve adequate empirical research.
Language
English
HSG Classification
contribution to scientific community
Refereed
No
Book title
Schutzian Phenomenology and Hermeneutic Traditions
Publisher
Springer
Publisher place
Dordrecht
Number
Vol. 68
Start page
9
End page
32
Pages
24
Subject(s)
Division(s)
Eprints ID
228373
File(s)![Thumbnail Image]()
open.access
Name
Eberle_Thomas_2013_Methodological_Implications_of_Phenomenological_Life_World_Analysis.pdf
Size
374.73 KB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
d6f0d63f06ae13c3f88f963ea9efc874