Rekonstruktive Sozialforschung

The contrast between "qualitative" and "quantitative," which fundamentally shapes the discourse in empirical social research, appears to be methodologically poorly justified. Central differences can be better captured by contrasting reconstructive and standardized methods.

The book presents three approaches to reconstructive social research, highlighting their differences and similarities: the narrative interview, objective hermeneutics, and especially the documentary method.

It discusses the fundamental requirements that should be placed on the methodology and research practice of reconstructive social research. At the center is the documentary method developed by the author himself, focusing on its methodological foundations and research practices in the area of text interpretation (particularly conversation analysis and group discussion) as well as image and video interpretation.