Saskia Sassen on "before method" : Podcast

Resource Information

The work Saskia Sassen on "before method" : Podcast represents a distinct intellectual or artistic creation found in European University Institute. This resource is a combination of several types including: Work, Language Material, Continuing Resources.

Label

Saskia Sassen on "before method" : Podcast

Title remainder

Podcast

Contributor

• Sassen, Saskia
• Warburton, Nigel, 1962-
• Edmonds, David, 1964-

Interviewer

• Edmonds, David, 1964-
• Warburton, Nigel, 1962-

Speaker

• Sassen, Saskia

Subject

• Sociology -- Methodology
• Sociology -- Research | Methodology
• Social scientists

Language

eng

Summary

About this Podcast: Going into research with predetermined categories and concepts sets limits for the production of new knowledge. Social scientists should therefore reflect critically on prevailing concepts and categories before launching into empirical work with an existing framework.Urban sociologist Saskia Sassen, known worldwide for her concept of the "global city," encourages researchers to start at the ground level, without deciding beforehand what they are studying. In this podcast Sassen describes an approach to research that she has coined the "before method."Sassen describes this method as the freedom and flexibility to position herself in relation to the object of study however she wants. It is an analytic tactic to de-theorize phenomena when first studying it. This avoids the pitfall of following learned methodologies that create expectations, and then forcing data to adhere those expectations.By way of example, Sassen refers to the International Monetary Fund and European Central Bank's 2013 declaration that Greece's economy was back on track. This declaration was based on the measure of GDP, but neglected to account for "a shrunken economic space, an economic space that has basically expelled 30% of workers, of households, of small businesses." This illustrates how social scientists need an awareness of what they are measuring and what is left out; "what is the knowledge vector that organizes an explanation?" By critically examining and de-theorizing categories before commencing research, social scientists can move beyond the echo chamber of research.--

Member of

• Social Science Bites

Assigning source

Provided by Publisher

Series statement

• Social Science Bites
• SAGE research methods