Situational Analysis as a Traveling Concept: Mapping, Coding and the Role of Hermeneutics

Authors

  • Ursula Offenberger Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17169/fqs-24.2.4021

Keywords:

situational analysis, pragmatism, hermeneutics, qualitative data analysis procedures, sequential analysis, open coding

Abstract

Situational analysis mapping is widely appreciated as offering systematical empirical approaches to analyzing relationality. However, the role of grounded theory coding as a technique to analyze sequentially remains somewhat unclear in situational analysis method books. In my contribution, I regard situational analysis as a traveling concept rooted in pragmatism and taken up within research landscapes different from its origin. Scrutinizing how situational analysis is practiced in German-speaking social sciences, I find that grounded theory coding is commonly used in addition to mapping. I relate this to existing debates on social scientific hermeneutics. Relations between pragmatism and hermeneutics are clarified and possible implications for data analysis in situational analysis are pointed out.

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Author Biography

Ursula Offenberger, Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen

Ursula OFFENBERGER works as an assistant professor at the Methods Center of the Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences at the University of Tübingen. She heads the research unit for qualitative methods and interpretative social research. Her research interests include grounded theory methodology and situational analysis, gender studies, and science and technology studies.

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Published

2023-05-30

How to Cite

Offenberger, U. (2023). Situational Analysis as a Traveling Concept: Mapping, Coding and the Role of Hermeneutics. Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 24(2). https://doi.org/10.17169/fqs-24.2.4021

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Section

Social Worlds, Arenas, and Situational Analyses: Theoretical Debates and Practical Research Experiences

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