(Post-)Graduate Support at its Best!

Projects and basic questions:

In the sociology of knowledge, ethnomethodology (EM), which is a very important field of research developed in the 1960s by Herald Garfinkel, focuses on the methods used by people to produce and apply common sense knowledge. EM, in many ways, contradicts the existing ways of studying social order. It is in this line that Membership Categorisation Analysis (MCA) as a method of inquiry becomes a valuable resource for studying everyday life and fields of discourse. This GRADE initiative aims to bring together researchers who use MCA as an analytical tool in their ongoing research. It is in this line that our aim is to bring together different experts and scholars working on MCA. We do so to discuss MCA procedures, to study the new literature and case studies and to reflect on the concepts that are emerging from the ongoing research. The reason for the exclusive focus on MCA is the complexity of finding patterns and rules of membership categorisation across different social and discursive fields. There are, moreover, several challenges in putting together data corpora, in analysing the data, and answering research questions. To do this, the existing knowledge of the subject must be unravelled. This is what makes it difficult, which requires critical discussion and reflection. This initiative is an important step towards achieving this complex goal.

Meeting:

In our regular sessions, we plan to read and understand the existing literature on MCA, the complexities of using this method and its practical application. We want to support researchers using MCA in their writing (theses, dissertations, articles or other forms) at different stages of their academic careers. In this way, we create a safe space for the exchange of data and concepts and for networking between researchers from different backgrounds. All the researchers from all areas of sciences are invited to actively engage in this initiative.

Contact:

If you are interested to join this GRADE initiative and attend our regular meetings you are welcome to contact Deepali Wighe.

Members of the GRADE initiative:

(alphabetically sorted by first name)

Andrea Stoll - External Doctoral Candidate, Goethe University
Current working title of dissertation: "'Normalelternschaft' in Deutschland - Eine ethnomethodologische komparative Studie von Elternschaft durch Annahme von Embryonen, Adoption und Pflegeelternschaft" 

Dr. Deep Chand - Postdoctoral Fellow at the College of Fellows (Center for Interdisciplinary and Intercultural Studies), University of Tübingen.
He received his doctoral degree in Sociology (magna cum laude) from the Goethe University Frankfurt. His research areas include political sociology, policing, state and law, citizenship and belonging, higher education, discourse analysis, ethnography and ethnomethodology. 

Deepali Wighe - FB 03 Social Sciences
Current working title of dissertation: "Knowing Nomadic and Denotified Tribes. An Institutional Ethnography"

Maren Zirpner - FB03 Social Sciences and DFG-Graduiertenkolleg 'Gewohnter Wandel'
Current working title of dissertation: Infrastrukturen der Einsamkeit - Über einsames Wohnen und gewohnte Einsamkeit"

Noormohammad Hashmat - FB 03 Social Sciences
Current working title of dissertation: "Bureaucratic process of Taxation in Afghanistan. An Institutional Ethnography"

Parishmita Dutta - FB 03 Social Sciences
Current working title of dissertation: "Ethnography of Prison Education in India"

Ramapuram Samuel Vijay Sukumar Babu– 07 Roman Catholic Theology
Current working title of dissertation: "The Historical Ethnomusicology of Dalit Religion: A Postcolonial Appraisal"

Professional advisers:

Dr. Thomas Scheffer (Sociology)