Call for Papers: Empirical Evidence

Deadline for submission of papers: May 30th, 2011

Send articles, research notes and book reviews to:

journal[dot]compaso[at]gmail[dot]com

The Journal invites contributions to its fourth issue: Empirical evidence.

Sociology and anthropology assume various epistemologies that inform the process of knowledge production. Frequently, yet seldom acknowledged, disciplinary protocols are premised on the idea that to do science means to employ a depersonalizing gaze on the social data that, simultaneously, evacuates the so-called subjective influence in the constitution of a research object.

The forthcoming issue of Compaso aims to interrogate polished accounts of social research by focusing on the idea that disciplinary protocols frame empirical evidence, which is, thus, relational and socially embedded. Contributors are invited to reflect on the possibilities to bring experiences and data emerging in particular research situations to bear on our inquiries. Relevant questions to this discussion include, among others:

- How are research questions related to the empirical evidence that we mobilize to discuss them? How do questions shape experiences and data, and how are questions, in turn, shaped or created by our engagement in empirical pursuits?

- What are we to make of the quantitative versus qualitative distinction? Is it, or not, a helpful tool to orient research?

- What hidden realities may be pursued empirically? What are the assumptions, limits, risks and hopes in the investigation of un-observables – such as implicit meanings, true motives, intimate experiences, latent variables, or shared social norms?

- In particular, can we investigate rationality empirically? How can we observe rationality and its evil twin – irrationality? On the other hand, can we rely on an assumption of human rationality as an instrument for our empirical inquiries? After all, how can the rationality concept be useful in empirical research?

- What are the strategies to convert a collection of evidence assembled for one research question into empirical data for other inquiries? How can empirical evidence be “recycled”?

Articles that engage in a comparative approach, connecting different concepts, materials, methods, situations, pieces of research or other social realities, are particularly welcome.

Please check the Journal’s website for guidelines on manuscript submission: http://compaso.ro/instructions-for-authors/