Applying the Philosophy of Sociology to Qualitative Methodology: Rethinking the Research Field

Abstract

Qualitative methodology has emerged as one of the most influential approaches for studying social phenomena; however, its application without adequate attention to its philosophical and sociological foundations may reduce qualitative inquiry to a set of technical data collection procedures. This article examines the relationship between the philosophy of sociology and qualitative methodology and explores how this relationship contributes to a reconceptualization of the research field. The study adopts an analytical–interpretive approach based on a review of classical and contemporary works in the philosophy of sociology, interpretive sociology, and qualitative research methodology. The findings indicate that social reality, within interpretive and phenomenological traditions, is not a fixed and independent entity but is continuously constituted through social interaction, lived experience, and processes of meaning-making. Accordingly, the research field should be understood not merely as a site for gathering data but as a dynamic arena in which meanings are produced and reproduced, where structure and agency interact, and where social knowledge is constructed. The analysis further demonstrates that major qualitative methods, including interviews, ethnography, and discourse analysis, should be viewed as interpretive and intersubjective processes rather than neutral research techniques. In these processes, the researcher actively participates in the production of knowledge and cannot be separated from the field under investigation. The article highlights the central importance of researcher reflexivity and argues that critical reflection on one’s assumptions, position, and influence is a necessary condition for generating valid social understanding. Finally, a conceptual framework is proposed that integrates meaning, structure, agency, the research field, and reflexivity as interconnected dimensions of qualitative inquiry. This framework offers a basis for strengthening qualitative research practices and advancing a more critical, contextual, and philosophically informed understanding of social reality.