|
Bracketing is a term derived from Edmund Husserl (1859-1938) and
describes a method used by phenomenological sociologists and ethnomethodologists.
Bracketing approach focuses on revealing the beliefs, ideas
and values that are simply taken for granted in the social world.
By suspending belief in the naturalness and normality of the
social world (placing what are normally automatic assumptions in ‘brackets’)
bracketing reveals the underlying thinking and values that people bring to bear in
understanding the world and engaging in social action.
This analysis then gives the researcher the information
necessary to investigate the ordinary methods social members use to comprehend the social
world and give it reality and concreteness.
"Bracketing," a term which reflects Husserl's
initial training in mathematics. Such bracketing of the common sense, the 'natural
attitude', implies that what is taken for granted or what is seen to be "out
there" need not necessarily be so. This does not however indicate any denial of
existence as yet or that we should forget all about the bracketed world. We are only
required, at this stage to stop attaching weight to them (Spiegelberg 1971: 135).
Objectivity and the supernormal: the limitations of bracketing approaches in providing
neutral accounts of supernormal claims.
Jeremy Northcote
Abstract: This paper contends that bracketing approaches to the sociological study of
supernatural, paranormal, and occult proponents do not truly 'bracket' the reality-claims
made by those being studied, but instead impose ontological limits on what can be
considered 'supernormal'. It is argued that such boundaries and definitions tend to rule
out alternative ontological perspectives of the kind that researchers typically encounter
among religious, paranormal, and occult proponents. It is also argued that, unlike earlier
reductionist approaches to the supernormal, the bias of bracketing approaches is not
necessarily based on an underlying sceptical outlook of researchers, but rather reflects
an inherent ontological limitation within the sociological enterprise itself. It is
recommended that bracketing should be replaced by a reflexive, dialogical approach that
emphasises the ontological positioning of social analyses with respect to supernormal
claims. - taylorandfrancis.metapress.com
Bracketing in Research: A Typology
Robin Edward Gearing
The term bracketing has increasingly been employed in qualitative research. Although this
term proliferates in scientific studies and professional journals, its application and
operationalization remains vague and, often, superficial. The growing disconnection of the
practice of bracketing in research from its origins in phenomenology has resulted in its
frequent reduction to a formless technique, value stance, or black-box term. Mapping the
subtle theoretical and philosophical underpinnings of bracketing will facilitate
identification and delineation of core elements that compose bracketing, and distinguish
howdifferent research approaches prioritize different bracketing elements. The author
outlines a typology of six distinct forms of bracketing that encompasses the
methodological rigor and evolution of bracketing within the richness of qualitative
research. - qhr.sagepub.com/cgi/content/refs/14/10/1429
Current phenomenological techniques in sociology include the
method of "bracketing" (Bentz 1995; Ihde 1977). This approach lifts an item
under investigation from its meaning context in the common-sense world, with all judgments
suspended. For example, the item "alcoholism as a disease" (Peele 1985; Truan
1993) is not evaluated within phenomenological brackets as being either true or false.
Rather, a reduction is performed in which the item is assessed in terms of how it operates
in consciousness: What does the disease notion do for those who define themselves within
its domain? A phenomenological reduction both plummets to the essentials of the notion and
ascertains its meanings independent of all particular occasions of its use. The reduction
of a bracketed phenomenon is thus a technique to gain theoretical insight into the meaning
of elements of consciousness. - Myron Orleans -
hss.fullerton.edu/sociology/orleans/phenomenology.htm |
|