Volume 3, No. 1 – January 2002

Premises of Police-Research Considered from a Hermeneutical Sociology of Knowledge

Jo Reichertz (Germany)

Abstract: In this article I introduce and discuss the methodological, methodical, and object-related premises of a hermeneutical sociology of knowledge on which empirical police-research should be based. In the first part, it will be shown why and how what data has to be collected and analyzed. With the example of "mythological stories" which are a given in the field of police-research, it will be demonstrated how these stories provide "solution" to a specific "problem" of social action. The subject of research is the police institution as well as the work embedded in this institution—or, stated differently: This kind of empirical police-research, on the one hand, analyzes the logic of action within this institution, but does not follow the same logic, and, on the other hand, it analyzes the police work, but does not pursue it.

Key words: empirical police-research, hermeneutical sociology of knowledge, field research, myths of police, qualitative research of organizations

This contribution is only available as a full text in the German language. German text

Volume 3, No. 1   Table of Contents

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© 2002 Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung / Forum: Qualitative Social Research
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