Reflexive Methodology: New Vistas for Qualitative Research

by Mats Alvesson, Kaj Skoldberg

In their overview of the problems of reflexivity and interpretation, Mats Alvesson and Kaj Sk[um]oldberg have provided an invaluable guide to this central aspect of research methodology. The authors review the major intellectual streams; discuss the development of a reflexive methodology; and show how culture, language, selective perception, and ideology all, in complicated ways, permeate scientific activity. They make explicit the links between techniques used in empirical research and different research traditions, making possible a theoretically informed approach to qualitative research.

432 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2000

About the author

Mats Alvesson är professor vid Lunds universitet och arbetar även vid University of Queensland, Australien, och City University, London. Han forskar och skriver om bland annat organisationskultur, ledarskap, identitet i organisationer och kvalitativ forskning och intresserar sig för fenomenet funktionell dumhet.

Reviews

[Alexis · Rating 3 out of 5]

6: Well written and rigorous, but I am not sure it did not really succeed in giving me much in the way of new ideas or newer ways to look at research, qualitative or otherwise.

[Pranvendra Champawat · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The project could thus be characterized equally well as an intellectualization of qualitative methods or a pragmatization of philosophy of science."

It covers various methodologies and integrates them relevantly. Describes and prescribes without being manual. Marking for a reread.

[Elena · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Good qualitative research is not a technical project; it is an intellectual one".
The book offers a good and detailed overview of qualitative approaches, covering Critical Theory, Hermeneutics, Discourse Analyse, Feminist approach, Poststructuralism and Postmodernism etc. Most importantly, it looks into practical implications for a researcher and provides interesting examples to illustrate the possible adoption.