Social Theory, Qualitative Methods and Ethnography: Representation and Reflexivity in Social Sciences

The article contributes to the discussion of the relation between qualitative methods and social theory, within the framework of the representativeness crisis and the emergence of reflexivity. The rise and development of the qualitative in the twentieth century, social theory implications in the postwar period, as well as the role played by critical theories in finding an answer to the crisis of sense and representation are the main issues reviewed by the authors. Finally, the article concludes with a discussion about the need for reflexivity within the ethnographic field