Søren Kristiansen & Michael Hviid Jacobsen
“Like grand theory, abstracted empiricism seizes upon
one juncture in the process of work and allows it to
dominate the mind. Both are withdrawals from the
tasks of the social sciences. Considerations of
method and theory are of course essential to work
upon our tasks, but in these two styles they have
become hindrances: the methodological inhibition
stands parallel to the fetishism of the concept …
Empirical data are blind without theory, and theory
is empty without data”
- C. Wright Mills: The Sociological Imagination (1959)
Most of us probably have to admit that we are
neither merely empiricists (radical
inductionists) or theoreticians (radical
deductivists) but that our work lingers
uneasily somewhere between the two poles
as a hybrid and that we are always looking
for a way to legitimate this hybrid identity
Adaptive theory
Radical induction/
grounded theory
Analytic
induction
Extended case
method
Recontextualizing
method
- theory
+ theory
+ data
- data
Conceptual and Hypothesis testing Investigation of a
Alternative/creative
theoretical
and refinement
limited area
ways of reframing
development
through the
through primary
phenomena in new
primarily based
continuous
and secondary data frames, providing them
on the collection elimination of
and aimed at
with new and often
and analysis of deviating cases
revision and
surprising meaning, e.g.
primary data
Verification/
extension of existing through metaphors and
Exploration
falsification
theory
alusions
Reconstruction
Abduction
Interplay between theory and data aimed at theoretical development/theorizing
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Developed by Derek Layder in Sociological Practice (1998) as a critique of
but also correction particularly to the methodology of grounded theory
Rests on a critical realist methodology that is skeptical of empirical
research without theoretical guidance, which distrusts the notion that
people can necessarily understand or see through their own lives and
which aims at developing and refining theory-laden and theory-directed
knowledge
Layder describes ‘adaptive theory’ as an ‘approach’ rather than as a
methodology, research tradition or position
So far the approach has not received much attention or mention in
sociological methodology circles
The approach offers a middle-position between radical induction and a
theory-based
Throughout the years, many other researchers have worked with a
variety of often unreflected and under-theorized methodological middlepositions – Layder seeks to spell out and systematize such efforts
Realism
Structure
Adaptive Theory
Micro
Constructivism
Agency
Subjective
Objective
Macro
“In a nutshell, adaptive theory, as I conceive it, is an
original amalgam of different influences and
approaches that falls somewhere between what are
variously referred to as deductive or theory-testing
approaches on one side and inductive or theorygenerating approaches on the other … Adaptive
theory draws upon the whole range of approaches
to theorizing in research … Adaptive theory uses
both inductive and deductive procedures for
developing and elaborating theory”
(Layder 1998:5, 38, 136-138).
“The ‘adaptive’ part of the term is meant to suggest that
the theory both adapts to, or is shaped by, incoming
evidence at the same time as the data themselves are
filtered throufgh (and adapted to) the extant theoretical
materials that are relevant and at hand”
(Layder 1998:38)
Theory
Data
The main purpose and task of adaptive
theory is to assist the researcher in
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Thinking theoretically informed about a host of social issues and
themes (as an ‘imaginative rehearsal’, as Layder dubs it)
Not necessarily aimed at the development of a systematic theory
as such but the continuous process of using existing theories and
based on these (in combination and interplay with data)
developing new theoretical ideas, insights and theoretically
informed concepts and understandings
Being inspired by a vast pool of various theoretical literature –
specific as well as general (and even alternative sources) – and
extracting interesting and promising ‘orienting concepts’ to guide
and accompany (but not direct or control) the analytical process
Being able to select the most relevant and most useful theoretical
ideas in the vast pool of existing ideas and concepts
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In principle any theoretically informed concept/notion
that can guide or promote theorizing – however, two
conditions ought to be met:
1. Their two-sided nature – binding social structure and
subjective experience together
2. Their reference to social processes – tracing activity
and events through time and place
• Can be extracted from any existing body of theory (general
or specific), substantive areas of research (e.g. medical
sociology), adjacent areas of research (e.g. psychology), from
utterly surprising sources (films, poetry, posters, etc.) or
from one’s own intuition and sensitivity
“The best use of individual concepts drawn
from a wider body of theory or knowledge
is as a means of cranking up the process of
theorizing – either by elaborating on extant
theory or by generating theory in relation to
researh evidence. By using such concepts as
orienting devices the researcher is provided
with a preliminary means of ordering and
giving shape to a mass of data”
(Layder 1998:23-24).
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‘Emotion work’ (Arlie Russell Hochschild)
‘Face work’ (Erving Goffman)
‘Joggling’ (Barney G. Glaser and Anselm L. Strauss)
‘Moral career’ (Erving Goffman and Howard S. Becker)
‘Moral, calculating or estranged involvement’ (Amitai Etzioni)
‘Impression management’ (Erving Goffman)
‘Vagabonds and tourists’ (Zygmunt Bauman)
‘Military-industrial complex’ (C. Wright Mills)
‘Social frames’ (Erving Goffman)
‘Awareness contexts’ (Barney G. Glaser and Anselm L. Strauss)
Inspired by grounded theory’s coding procedures, Layder
suggests three steps to coding in adaptive theory:
1.
2.
3.
Pre-coding (the initial and often inspirational work with
finding and organizing interesting sections, paragraphs or
concepts in data)
Provisional coding (close to pre-coding but often attached
to theoretical ideas and notions)
Core and satellite coding (linking and interplaying data and
orienting concepts in novel and more systematic ways
thereby refining the theorizing process by finding out what
links well with what)
A sociology student recently used the adaptive ‘approach’ in her master’s
thesis on cutting and self-harm among young girls
Literature: Specific psychological, sociological and medical literature on
cutting and more general social theory on deviance, secrecy, recognition,
etc.
Orienting concepts: Recognition, stigma, passing, shame, embarrassment,
etc. – concepts connecting the individual/subjective experience with wider
social/societal/structural conditions and reactions
Empirical work: Interviews with young girls, expert interviews and internet
ethnography on a homepage for cutters
Analysis: Organized on the orienting concepts with the development of
new concepts and typologies as the end-goal (theorizing)
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The actual relationship between induction and deduction remains
unclear – what is prioritized when, where, why and how
How to proceed (practically) in the research process (e.g.
combining orienting concepts with data) is under-theorized
Structure/system level concepts are favoured by Layder on behalf
of more individual or interactionist level concepts
It seems unclear when an adequate adaptive theory is developed
The proposal to allow or even suggest a broad eclectic approach
to the use of orienting concepts might foreshadow a more
substantial understanding of the theories in use
Apart from this, adaptive theory offers a refreshing and to some
extent useful alternative to the other four positions on the
qualitative continuum
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Qualitative data analysis is concerned with finding order, patterns,
structure, direction and meaning in often large lumps of material taken
from various sectors of social life
Creating this order/patterns/structure/direction/meaning can be done
by a very data-driven procedure or strategy (e.g. grounded theory), by
way of a relatively theory-driven procedure or strategy (e.g. the
recontextualizing method) or by a middle-way procedure or strategy
(e.g. adaptive theory)
The result of these different procedures or strategies can be new theory,
revised/refined theory, validated theory, extended theory, developing
typologies, concepts and metaphors, etc.
All these procedures/strategies have their individual potentials and
pitfalls
Depending on the specific procedure or strategy used, the different
steps in the research project will vary considerably
“There are no methods without deficiencies and
every method causes certain methodological
difficulties for the researcher … A razorblade as
well as an axe are equally precise instruments, but
when it comes to deforestation the axe is much
better. The axe is a powerful tool just as the
razorblade but it is much better to use a
razorblade than an axe for shaving”
- Zygmunt Bauman (1966)
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Derek Layder (1998): Sociological Practice – Linking
Theory and Social Research. London: Sage Publications.
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Michael Hviid Jacobsen (2007): “Adaptiv teori – den
tredje vej til viden: En stående invitation til
syntesesociologi”, i Rasmus Antoft, Michael Hviid
Jacobsen, Anja Jørgensen & Søren Kristiansen (red.):
Håndværk & Horisonter – tradition og nytænkning i
kvalitativ metode. Odense: Syddansk
Universitetsforlag, pp. 249-291.