Reestablishing “the social” in research on democratic processes: mid‐century voter studies and paul f. lazarsfeld's alternative vision

This article argues that the Columbia and Michigan voter studies presented two visions for research on democracy. Where the Michigan research produced quantitative measures expressing the ‘political behavior’ of the electorate, the Columbia studies, and especially Paul F. Lazarsfeld, presented an alternative vision for qualitative research on political choice. Largely ignored by later voter studies, this vision prefigured much contemporary research on democracy that embraces a qualitative or interpretive approach. This article reconstructs Lazarsfeld's alternative vision, describes the institutional context in which scholars disregarded it in favor of formal quantitative models, and argues for its recognition as a forerunner to qualitative research on democratic processes.

Source: Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences - April 1, 2015 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Michael Christensen Tags: Original Article Source Type: research