Description: In Abductive Analysis, Iddo Tavory and Stefan Timmermans provide a new navigational map for theorizing qualitative research. They outline a way to think about observations, methods, and theories that nurtures theory formation without locking it into predefined conceptual boxes. The book provides novel ways to approach the challenges that plague qualitative researchers across the social sciences--how to conceptualize causality, how to manage the variation of observations, and how to leverage the researcher's community of inquiry. Abductive Analysis is a landmark work that shows how a pragmatist approach provides a productive and fruitful way to conduct qualitative research.
Brief description:
Stefan Timmermans is professor of sociology at the University of California at Los Angeles. He is the author of Postmortem, Saving Babies, and coauthor Abductive Analysis, all published by the University of Chicago Press.
Review Quotes: "This is a well-crafted, beautifully written, and nicely organized book that seeks to take the task of qualitative social science methods--especially ethnographic methods in anthropology and sociology--to new levels of sophistication."--Sharon Kaufman "University of California, San Francisco"