If Simmel Were A Fieldworker: On Formal Sociological Theory And Analytical Field Research*

Abstract

In this paper, an attempt is made to apply the methodological principles of SimmeFs formal sociology to fieldwork and, thus, to lay out systematically the methodological foundations of “analytical field research.” The paper centers around three major methodological principles: (a) shifting the emphasis from actual facts to the particular analytical perspectives from which they are viewed; (b) establishing concern with formal patterns which are abstracted from reality rather than with its concrete contents; (c) studying only selected aspects of concrete phenomena and making a commitment to particular analytical concerns and foci. Based on these methodological principles, certain guidelines for analytical field researchers are then recommended.