PUB - Publikationen an der Universität Bielefeld

The article outlines ideas for a methodology of collaborative theorizing. The first part introduces our understanding of theorizing as a craft that provides all scholars in the social sciences and humanities – not just self-described theorists – with the ability to develop their thinking in the course of the research process and draws attention to everyday research practices that are usually not covered by the literature on qualitative and quantitative research methods. ‘Theorizing together,’ as part of this craft, can be understood as a synergetic mode of theory-making geared to harnessing the advantages of everyday collaboration. The second part makes the case for a methodology of theorizing together built on personal experiences. First, we review our own research on rankings to show how collaborative practices allowed us to gain novel insights into an object of study, which would not have been possible had we done our research separately. Then, we offer preliminary ideas for a methodology. Specifically, we identify a number of practices involved in theorizing together and discuss various challenges and conditions associated with it. Our main goal is to inspire others to share their experience with collaborative work and, in the spirit of theorizing together, to further develop this mode of collective inquiry.