PUB - Publikationen an der Universität Bielefeld

This paper is an examination of criteria for qualitative social research. It starts from the premise that productive criteria can only be determined by relying strictly on the specific functional properties of interpretive and reconstructive approaches. Five criteria are proposed: Adequacy is a mode of defining the research topic by taking the empirical field seriously while maintaining distance from it by generating tension through theoretical reasoning. Empirical saturation designates the criterion that is to be observed by basing work on empirical field data, while theoretical pervasiveness addresses the quality of the theoretical relations in which the research is articulated and, consequently, stimulated. Textual performance refers to composing texts which achieve high quality communication with their recipients. Finally, originality is the criterion according to which the claim to research innovation may be examined.