Des « études de cas » aux généralisations fondées

Abstract

In the last twenty years, ethnography has become a legitimate method in academic sociology. Based on the researcher’s long-term personal immersion in the field, ethnography is often defined as a local method which mainly helps identify unspeakable knowledge and practices or implicit representations which are difficult of access through more traditional methods - surveys, archives or interviews. This article aims to demonstrate that, if used in a controlled way, ethnography may also help develop strong conceptualisations and ambitious empirical generalizations.

Keywords

• epistemology
• ethnography
• method
• observation