Methods in Sociology

Lisa's dissertation focuses on the status quo of methods training in German-speaking sociology. She is aiming for an empirical understanding of the discipline's relationship to its "methods" in all their variety and their role for the education and socialisation of students into sociology.

With the help of semantic network and citation analysis based on method syllabi, Lisa will map the current field of methods training at Sociology and Social Science departments in Switzerland, Germany and Austria. Interviews with staff involved in methods training, online material regarding study programmes, and observations from classes will be used to identify canonical and differing methods, concepts and conventions and will guide the identification of methodological communities that may connect or diverge from the methods taught. Insights into the differing concepts of "sociological method" can also help to understand the persistence or openness of form and content of disciplinary method teaching in light of sociotechnical changes, like digitalisation and its manifestion in "big data".