In Abductive Analysis, Iddo Tavory and Stefan Timmermans provide a new navigational map for constructing empirically based generalizations in qualitative research. They outline an accessible way to think about observations, methods, and theories that nurtures theory-formation without locking it into predefined conceptual boxes. The authors view research as continually moving back and forth between a set of observations and theoretical generalizations. To craft theory is to then pitch one's observations in relation to other potential cases, both within and without one's field. The book provides novel ways to approach the challenges that plague qualitative researchers across the social sciences-how to think about the relation between methods and theories, how to conceptualize causality, how to construct axes of variation, and how to leverage the researcher's community of inquiry. Abductive Analysis is a landmark work that shows how a pragmatist approach provides a more productive and fruitful way to conduct qualitative research.

About the Author
Iddo Tavory is assistant professor at New York University. Stefan Timmermans is professor of sociology at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is the author of Postmortem: How Medical Examiners Explain Suspicious Death and coauthor of Saving Babies? The Consequences of Newborn Genetic Screening, both published by the University of Chicago Press.

Reviews
"This is a well-crafted, beautifully written, and nicely organized book that seeks to take the task of qualitative social science methods-especially ethnographic methods in anthropology and sociology-to new levels of sophistication." (Sharon Kaufman, University of California, San Francisco)"



Book Information
ISBN 9780226180311
Author Iddo Tavory
Format Paperback
Page Count 176
Imprint University of Chicago Press
Publisher The University of Chicago Press
Weight(grams) 284g