abductive analysis theorizing qualitative research pdf

Abductive Analysis: Theorizing Qualitative Research

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T1 - Abductive Analysis

T2 - Theorizing Qualitative Research

AU - Tavory, Ido

AU - Timmermans, Stefan

BT - Abductive Analysis

PB - University of Chicago Press

CY - Chicago

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Iddo Tavory and Stefan Timmermans Abductive Analysis: Theorizing Qualitative Research Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 2014, 172 pp., incl. index.

Charles S. Peirce's conception of abductive reasoning became a hot topic in the philosophy of science after World War II, when N. R. Hanson suggested that abduction is a logic of discovery, Gilbert Harman argued that all types of inductive reasoning can be reduced to inference to the best explanation (IBE), and Howard Smokler suggested that abduction as inverse deduction is an important method of confirmation. Abduction has been a popular theme also in Artificial Intelligence. Illustrations and examples of abduction have been sought in everyday life, detective stories, and many scientific disciplines from astronomy to medicine.

Iddo Tavory and Stefan Timmermans have published a book on qualitative research which is a welcome addition to the growing literature on abduction. They are both professors of sociology with a solid background in cultural research: Tavory (from the New York University) has studied condom use in developing countries and religious identities among Jewish Orthodox neighborhoods, Timmermans (from the University of California, Los Angeles) postmortem examinations of suspicious deaths and newborn genetic screening.

The book consists of an Introduction, seven Chapters, a Conclusion, and a Synopsis of abductive analysis.

The basic thesis of Tavory and Timmermans, outlined in the Introduction, is that Peirce's pragmatism helps to understand the relationship among...

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Data Analysis in Qualitative Research

Theorizing with abductive analysis.

Stefan Timmermans and Iddo Tavory

200 pages | 2 halftones, 1 line drawings, 1 tables | 6 x 9 | © 2022

Reference and Bibliography

Sociology: General Sociology , Methodology, Statistics, and Mathematical Sociology , Theory and Sociology of Knowledge

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“Timmermans and Tavory have done the field of sociology a great service with their deep and probing exploration of methods of analyzing qualitative research data. Students will find the questions they are often asked answered here to everyone's satisfaction . ”

Howard S. Becker, author of Writing for Social Scientists

“Timmermans and Tavory show us how to use abductive analysis through every stage of the research process to exploit the potential for theory construction that breaks new ground. They give qualitative researchers—beginning and experienced—new ways to think about what we do as we are doing it, as well as a set of new analytic practices.  In so doing, they also give us the ability to teach it.”

Diane Vaughan, author of Dead Reckoning

“In spite of its title, Data Analysis in Qualitative Research is as much about theory as it is about data. The authors make a case for theoretically informed qualitative research in which true discovery—or, as they put it, surprise—is key. At times irreverent in tone and informed by years of experience, the book will prove valuable to ethnographers and interviewers grappling with qualitative analysis.”

Mario Small, author of Someone To Talk To

"This book is a manifesto for a better sociology—one centered on explaining the inexplicable in a way that does not merely replicate what we know but empowers us to know more, know subversively, know  better . I want to assign this book to every incoming grad student—both to instruct them on what sociology can be and also put in their minds the expectation that  they too can create great sociology ."

Jennifer Carlson, University of Arizona

“ Data Analysis in Qualitative Research aims to show researchers how to collect, analyze, and write about their data in more theoretically fruitful ways. It presents a set of principles to guide and empower researchers to think more productively about the relation between theory and data. This approach is likely to induce the active engagement that will generate innovative research, rather than simply guiding readers to follow a recipe that would produce a merely passable piece of work.”

Carol Heimer, Northwestern University

"Timmermans and Tavory’s how-to guide provides tricks of the trade for researchers who hope to take excellent qualitative data and transform it into powerful scholarship. One focus is on how researchers can approach qualitative research in a way that will locate surprising findings that may lead to theoretical breakthroughs."

Law & Social Inquiry

Table of Contents

On knowing--the social sciences.

Richard P. McKeon

Writing for Social Scientists, Third Edition

Howard S. Becker

Going Public

Arlene Stein

The Structure of Policy Change

Derek A. Epp

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Abductive Analysis: Theorizing Qualitative Research Illustrated Edition

• ISBN-10 022618031X
• ISBN-13 978-0226180311
• Edition Illustrated
• Publisher University of Chicago Press
• Publication date September 30, 2014
• Language English
• Dimensions 8.9 x 6 x 0.5 inches
• Print length 172 pages
• See all details

Editorial Reviews

About the author.

Stefan Timmermans is professor of sociology at the University of California at Los Angeles. He is the author of Postmortem , Saving Babies , and coauthor Abductive Analysis , all published by the University of Chicago Press.   

Product details

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ University of Chicago Press; Illustrated edition (September 30, 2014)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 172 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 022618031X
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0226180311
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 8.8 ounces
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8.9 x 6 x 0.5 inches
• #418 in Social Sciences Methodology
• #611 in Philosophy of Logic & Language
• #920 in Social Sciences Research

About the authors

Stefan timmermans.

Stefan Timmermans is a professor of sociology at UCLA. He has written books on medical technologies, research methods, and death and dying.

Iddo Tavory

Iddo Tavory is Professor of sociology at NYU. Iddo is a sociologist and theorist interested in the interactional and cultural patterns through which people come to construct and understand their lives. His books Abductive Analysis (2014, co-authored with Stefan Timmermans) and Data Analysis in Qualitative Research (2022, also with Stefan Timmermans) both show how researchers can re-organize their work to make the most of the surprises that emerge in the process of research. His ethnographic book, Summoned (2016), is an account of an Orthodox Jewish neighborhood in Los Angeles as well as a treatise on the patterning of social worlds, and his book Tangled Goods (with Sonia Prelat and Shelly Ronen, 2022) explores the relationship among goods in pro bono advertising, and theorizes the coordination of different forms of worth in action. He has also co-authored a book on the measurement of culture in the social sciences (2020) and is writing more on the advertising industry in New York as well as a theoretical book about Cultural Interactionism. Among his awards, Iddo has received the Clifford Geertz for his work in the sociology of culture, the Robert Park award for Urban Sociology, and the Coser award for agenda-setting in sociological theory.

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• DOI: 10.46743/2160-3715/2022.5340
• Corpus ID: 248952589

A Guide to Abductive Thematic Analysis

• Published in The Qualitative Report 20 May 2022

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‘It's Down to Hard Work, Lonely Work, Long, Long Hours, and You Have to be Able to Sacrifice’: Removing the Veil of the Gender-Neutral Organisation

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• Published: 09 September 2024
• Volume 41 , article number  21 , ( 2024 )

Cite this article

• Cherie Duffy   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-2977-3213 1 ,
• Patricia Jolliffe 1 &
• Helen Collins 1  

This research examines the notion of the Gendered Organisation concept within a UK public sector organisation; drawing attention to the presumptions of Gender-Neutrality being satisfied if there are equal numbers of females and males in leadership positions. By examining the experiences of female leaders in a perceived Gender-Neutral public sector organisation that surely ought to apply equality law and policy with rigour, we explore the dominance of agentic leadership styles (assertiveness and competitiveness). Such styles often popularised in comparison to, and to the detriment of, communal characteristics (nurturing), can lead to the creation and reinforcement of masculine-informed structures, language and norms that leave little room for a communal or feminine approach to leadership. The findings from 13 semi-structured interviews look at what extent a public sector organisation may be perceived as Gender-Neutral. However, such perceived neutrality has created only a veneer of equality and what we term a gender complacency, which presents a risk to authentic Equality, Diversity and Inclusion interventions within the workforce.

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Cherie Duffy, Patricia Jolliffe & Helen Collins

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Duffy, C., Jolliffe, P. & Collins, H. ‘It's Down to Hard Work, Lonely Work, Long, Long Hours, and You Have to be Able to Sacrifice’: Removing the Veil of the Gender-Neutral Organisation. Gend. Issues 41 , 21 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12147-024-09337-5

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Accepted : 14 August 2024

Published : 09 September 2024

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s12147-024-09337-5

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