From a Case to a Case Study—And Back, or on the Search for Everyman in Biographical Research

Abstract

Sociological, qualitative, biographical research is distinguished by its interest in the case. At the same time, this research seeks—often through case studies—to understand or explain supraindividual, repetitive phenomena which are, to some extent, general. In this article, we look at how cases are treated in biographical sociology. We present our own empirical experience, consisting in autobiographical narrative interviews with participants of a nationwide panel survey, who were randomly drawn to the panel many years ago. We show the possible consequences, both methodological and theoretical, of this way of selecting cases, quite unusual for biographical sociology. We wonder whether and to what extent the experience of the “ordinary person,” the Everyman, can be reflected in sociological works based on the biographical method.

Keywords

• case
• case study
• biographical sociology
• autobiographical narrative interview
• case selection methods
• sampling
• Polish Panel Survey (POLPAN)