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Cited by 2,916Contemporary Sociological Theory and PracticeQualitative Research Methods and EthicsQualitative Comparative Analysis Research

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 87 of the 88 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

The Extended Case Method

Burawoy, Michael·1998·Sociological Theory
DOI 10.1111/0735-2751.00040
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Abstract

In this article I elaborate and codify the extended case method, which deploys participant observation to locate everyday life in its extralocal and historical context. The extended case method emulates a reflexive model of science that takes as its premise the intersubjectivity of scientist and subject of study. Reflexive science valorizes intervention, process, structuration, and theory reconstruction. It is the Siamese twin of positive science that proscribes reactivity, but upholds reliability, replicability, and representativeness. Positive science, exemplified by survey research, works on the principle of the separation between scientists and the subjects they examine. Positive science is limited by “context effects” (interview, respondent, field, and situational effects) while reflexive science is limited by “power effects” (domination, silencing, objectification, and normalization). The article concludes by considering the implications of having two models of science rather than one, both of which are necessarily flawed. Throughout I use a study of postcolonialism to illustrate both the virtues and the shortcomings of the extended case method. Methodology can only bring us reflective understanding of the means which have demonstrated their value in practice by raising them to the level of explicit consciousness; it is no more the precondition of fruitful intellectual work than the knowledge of anatomy is the precondition of“correct” walking. Max Weber— The Methodology of the Social Sciences

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Crossref · 10.1111/0735-2751.00040

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Citations

Cites

Research works printed but not linked: 53

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  4. Bourgois Philippe, 1995, In Search of Respect.
  5. Burawoy Michael, 1972, The Colour of Class: From African Advancement to Zambianization.
  6. Burawoy Michael, 1972, African Social Research, 14, 239
  7. Burawoy Michael, 1974, Constraint and Manipulation in Industrial Conflict—A comparison of strikes among Zambian workers in a clothing factory and the mining industry.
  8. Burawoy Michael, 1979, Manufacturing Consent.
  9. Burawoy Michael, 1991, Ethnography Unbound.
  10. Burgess Ernest W., 1927, Sociology and Social Research, 12, 103
  11. Cicourel Aaron, 1982, The American Sociologist, 17, 11
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  17. Fanon Frantz, 1961, The Wretched of the Earth.
  18. Forsyth Barbara H., Measurement Errors in Surveys, 393
  19. Fraser Nancy, 1989, Unruly Practices.
  20. Gans Herbert, 1968, Institutions and the Person: Papers Presented to Everett C. Hughes, 300
  21. Geertz Clifford, 1983, Local Knowledge.
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  23. Gluckman Max, 1961, Social Change in Modern Africa, 67
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  25. Gouldner Alvin, 1973, For Sociology: Renewal and Critique in Sociology Today., 27
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  29. Haraway Donna, 1991, Simians, Cyborgs, and Women.
  30. Harding Sandra, 1990, Feminism/Postmodernism, 83
  31. Johnston Paul, 1994, Success While Others Fail: Social Movement Unionism in the Public Workplace.
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  33. Knorr-Cetina Karin D., 1981, Advances in Social Theory and Methodology., 1
  34. Lazarus Neil, 1993, Research in African Literatures, 24, 69
  35. MacLeod Jay, 1987, Ain't No Making It: Leveled Aspirations in a Low-Income Neighborhood.
  36. Mitchell Clyde, 1956, The Kalela Dance.
  37. Mitchell Tim, 1988, Colonizing Egypt.
  38. Oakley Ann, 1981, Doing Feminist Research, 30
  39. Powers Brian, Making Marginality: How High Schools Reproduce Inequality in the Inner City.
  40. Ragin Charles, 1987, The Comparative Method.
  41. Ray Raka, 1998, Fields of Protest: A Comparison of Women's Movements in Two Indian Cities.
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Metadata

Authors
Burawoy, M.
Affiliations
University of California, Berkeley
Venue
Sociological Theory
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Published
1998-03
Volume
16
Issue
1
Pages
4-33
ISSN
  • 0735-2751 (ISSN-L)
  • 1467-9558
DOI
10.1111/0735-2751.00040
OpenAlex
W2127589096
Cited by
2,916
References
88
Citations by year
2026: 193 · 2025: 160 · 2024: 124 · 2023: 220 · 2022: 149 · 2021: 220 · 2020: 175 · 2019: 150 · 2018: 140 · 2017: 151 · 2016: 166 · 2015: 128 · 2014: 143 · 2013: 143 · 2012: 109
FWCI
46.41
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license (tdm)
Locations
  • Sociological Theory (publishedVersion)
  • University of California Press eBooks (publishedVersion)
  • SAGE Publications Ltd eBooks (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Contemporary Sociological Theory and Practice
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Qualitative Research Methods and Ethics
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Qualitative Comparative Analysis Research
Keywords
extended case method, participant observation, positive science, intersubjectivity, context effects, power effects, postcolonialism, everyday life, objectification, structuration, theory reconstruction, Max Weber

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