Jacques Hamel

The focus group method and contemporary French sociology

This article reviews the development of the focus group method in French sociology as compared with the sociological intervention method proposed by Alain Touraine. It further purports to describe and discuss matters such as representativeness, objectivity, status of data and so forth. Lastly, it looks at the development of the epistemology of reception.

A propos de l'échantillon. De l'utilité de quelques mises au point:

Concerning Samples - The Utility of Certain Clarifications. The article concerns qualitative samples and qualitative sampling. The subject is first treated from an historical point of view by looking at the work of the Chicago school of thought and the birth of the qualitative-quantitative opposition. This quarrel over methods is attenuated by distinctions made in this article between: (a) locality and subject of a study; (b) statistical representativeness and sociological (or theoretical) representativeness; (c) descriptive theory and explicative theory. The construction of a qualitative sample can be formulated as a calculation involving explicitly and uniquely defined and regulated operations.

Réflexions sur la réflexivité en sociologie

English This article considers the reflexivity that arises from the “individualization of social life,” which is the result of changes in current societies and which, for example, forces sociology to consider its purpose at a new cost. How exactly is individuality to be defined from this perspective? What status is to be conferred on the statements of individuals who are operating in such a framework? Having defined precisely to what reflexivity corresponds, the author seeks to qualify the theses currently held on this topic, as illustrated by the theories of P. Bourdieu and A. Giddens, which provide an opportunity to conceive of common sense as practical knowledge and individuality as the mediation required to attain the social. The reflexivity of sociology is finally addressed in order to show that today, sociological knowledge fuels the practical knowledge that individuals mobilize to make sense, at their own level, of what they are and what they do. French Cet article envisage la réflexivité surgie de l “individualisation de la vie sociale” née des mutations des sociétés actuelles et qui, par exemple, oblige la sociologie à concevoir son objet à nouveaux frais. Comment définir exactement l’individualité dans cette perspective? Quel statut conférer aux propos des individus qui évoluent dans ce cadre? Après avoir cerné ce à quoi correspond exactement la réflexivité, l’auteur cherche à nuancer les thèses en vogue sur le sujet en prenant pour illustration les théories de P. Bourdieu et d’A. Giddens qui lui permettent de concevoir le sens commun comme connaissance pratique et l’individualité comme médiation obligée pour atteindre le social. La réflexivité de la sociologie est finalement abordée afin de montrer que, de nos jours, la connaissance sociologique alimente la connaissance pratique que mobilisent les individus pour, à leur niveau, rendre raison de ce qu’ils sont et de ce qu’ils font.

O papel da família no desenvolvimento da economia dos "francophones" de Quebec

Este artigo aborda a cultura de empresa articulada nas organizacoes dirigidas pelos nativos do Quebec de lingua francesa. Esta cultura visa redefinir as relacoes sociais de producao, a organizacao taylorista do trabalho, a relacao entre dirigentes e empregados e o papel social da empresa. Demonstra-se o enraizamento deste novo modo de gestao das empresas em antigas formas economicas. O estudo de casos de empresas exemplares mostra que as relacoes parentesco constituem a base desta cultura de empresa. Com este fundamento, cloca-se em xeque a hipotese de Pierre Bourdieu da reinvencao da funcao da familia

Bref rappel de trois problèmes méthodologiques de l’histoire de vie en sociologie

Brief Review of Three Methodological Problems of Life Histories in Sociology: This article reviews the popularity of life histories in sociology in the early 1970s, especially in light of the work done at that time by Daniel Bertaux. Forty years later, what can be said of it? After a brief historical overview, we consider: 1. The issue of representativeness; 2. The status conferred on common sense; and 3. The rigor of the analysis developed on the basis of a life history in the framework of grounded theory. These three topics are discussed so as to show possible solutions to the methodological problems they raise. A simple example of the analysis of a life history illustrates this point.

Sur le langage et l’écriture en sociologie Brèves considérations théoriques et pratiques à partir de Bourdieu

After showing that language and writing are used as basic resources in sociology, this article seeks to identify issues raised by writing in sociology to produce the knowledge expected of this discipline as other social sciences. After considering the status of sociological knowledge and use of language that this knowledge requires, the article seeks to define the rules to be followed by sociologists in order to explain what it means in science. The arguments presented here differ from those developed in some post-modern theories, according to which sociology is after all only a matter of language, and sociologists are authors like novelists. The article is based on considerations developed in particular by Pierre Bourdieu.

Sur le tournant méthodologique de Pierre Bourdieu et le développement de la méthodologie qualitative en sociologie

On the Methodological Evolution of Pierre Bourdieu and the Development of Qualitative Methodology in Sociology. This article concerns the “provoked and accompanied au to-analysis” presented by Pierre Bourdieu in La Misère du Monde. This latter work constitutes a true methodological experience defining, in a new manner, the epistemological break, the status attributed to common sense knowledge, the representativity and the singularity of sociology, as well as the construction of explanations as found in sociological literature. The criticism inspired by this method opens up a debate on qualitative methodology in sociology. Qualitative Methodology. La Misère du Monde, Common Sense Knowledge. Sociological Explanation.