Symbolic interaction and ethnographic research : intersubjectivity and the study of human lived experience /

In this tour de force Prus examines the basic theoretical tensions between the positivist (determinism) and the interpretivist (human free agency) orientations--and that is just the beginning. Prus exposes the very roots of intersubjective theory and the impact of the hermeneutic (interpretive) tradition on intersubjective reality. He assesses the ethnographic research tradition, generic social processes in terms of transcontextualizing ethnographic inquiry, and affectivity as a generic social process. In chapter 7, Prus explores the problems of using the intersubjective research approach to social science in light of the "deeply entrenched set of positivist paradigms" encountered today, the present "postmodernist thrust," and the "practical demands of ethnographic inquiry." Chapter 8, cowritten with Lorne Dawson, defines "obdurate reality" as posited by Herbert Blumer and the problem of methodology within ethnographic research. This work stands as an intellectual counterbalance to the works of Jeffrey Alexander and other neopositivists. A solid background in sociological theory will make this work enjoyable reading. Well documented, with extensive use of citations. Good subject index. Graduate, faculty. R.C. Myers; Central Washington University