Sweeping into the Interpretive Turn: Theory and Practice Expansion in Situational Analysis

Abstract

Between Adele Clarke’s 2005 ground-breaking book, Situational Analysis: Grounded Theory after the Postmodern Turn, and its second edition due for release next year under an expanded authorship and title, comes this effective practice-based taster. Here SA is situated within the interpretive turn, rather than the postmodern as previously, in a shift that might subtly be taking back some of the ground formerly given to Foucault at the expense of Strauss. Exemplars of SA studies, each with a reflective postscript by their authors, provide rich details on methods from a community of scholars, who along with the book’s editors, reproduce the spirit of Strauss’ data analysis group to “turn up the volume” on less heard voices and diverse practices in the situation of SA.

The Northern Ethiopia Armed Conflict and the Unusual Decline of Grade 12 Students’ Result in Amhara Region

“…Situational analysis extends and goes beyond grounded theory (Clark et al, 2015). Unlike grounded theory which focuses on action, situational analysis focuses on the situation of inquiry broadly conceived; the ultimate unit of analysis, and understanding its elements and their relations (Whisker, 2018). Situational analysis constructs "the situation" empirically by making three unique ecological-relational maps: situational maps, social worlds/arenas maps, and positional maps (Clark, 2005).…”