Qualitative research of religion is based on the tradition of empirical social research. Within this tradition it not only favours qualitative, non-standardised methods, but also clings to an interpretive methodology that starts from the assumption that the "objects" of social research are already interpreted by the actors themselves. This holds particularly for "religion" which, for this reason, is considered as a "first-order construct" as opposed to scientific second-order constructs (such as "transcendence"). The essay expands earlier work on the methods of qualitative religious research (Hubert Knoblauch, Qualitative Religionsforschung. Paderborn 2003) to sketching methodological demands: Qualitative methods are "ethnographic" in that they are oriented towards actors' meanings of experiences and actions. If performed in one's own society, researchers have to account for their cultural knowledge entering the understanding of others. Finally, with respect to the ontological claims by actors particularly in the field of religion, this kind of research should follow the maxim of methodological agnosticism in order to maintain the empirical attitude necessary for this kind of re search.

Enthalten in:
Theologische Literaturzeitung; 2006/9 Monatsschrift für das gesamte Gebiet der Theologie und Religionswissenschaft (2006)

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Serie / Reihe: Theologische Literaturzeitung

Personen: Knoblauch, Hubert

Schlagwörter: Gesellschaft Religion Qualitative Forschung Ethnographie