Methodological choice and the study of sensitive issues

Authors

• Nora Ahlberg University of Trondheim

DOI: https://doi.org/10.30674/scripta.67260

Keywords:

Religion -- Study, Methodology, Reductionism, Interdisciplinary study, Self-perception, Cross-cultural studies, Research -- Ethical aspects, Objectivity, Quantitative research, Positivism, Hermeneutics, Knowledge, Theory of

Abstract

There has been relatively little concern with methodological issues within the study of religion. In this article the author considers the need for a continuing clarification of how diverse methodological approaches relate to the study of religion in general, and what is more, of certain aspects of the role of the researcher in particular. A main difference between the methodological approaches as referred to in this article — and illustrated by reference to minority studies -is in the closeness of the researcher to his field. One could perhaps state that while the researcher draws nearer to his field in soft approaches the theories remain further away from the empirical data (i.e. in that one creates greater vistas) while the opposite is true for those that work with hard data designs, that meta-theories are almost excluded (as pure speculation) due to the strict demands for operationalization, as the (effect of the) researcher is to a greater extend likewise excluded from the picture. Though in both cases the choices made must naturally be made explicit as must the researcher relate to a qualified discussion between experts who have some kind of relationship to the kind of empirical material or theoretical thinking that is at issue in the particular project.