Methodological Practices in Social Movement Research

Abstract

Abstract Social movement studies have grown enormously in the last few decades, spreading from sociology and political science to other fields of knowledge as varied as geography, history, anthropology, psychology, economics, law, and others. With the increasing interest in the field, there has also been an increasing need for methodological guidance for empirical research. This volume aims at addressing this need by introducing the main methods of data collection and data analysis as they have been used in past research on social movements. The focus is on the how-to-do-it, rather than, for example, on reviewing existing research using specific methods. Each chapter presents specific discussions on the main steps of research using a certain method: from research design to data collection and the use of the information. In this, dilemmas and tradeoffs are presented, illustrated mainly from materials from the authors’ own research. Both qualitative and quantitative methods are included: among them, protest event analysis, network analysis, surveys, frame and discourse analysis, archival and oral history, ethnography, grounded theory, in-depth interviews, group interviews, life histories, qualitative comparative analysis, comparative historical analysis, visual analysis. Epistemological and ethical issues, as well as the use of new technologies, are covered as well.

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