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Using mixed methods for analysing culture : The Cultural Capital and Social Exclusion project

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Silva, Elizabeth, Wright, David and Warde, Alan (2009) Using mixed methods for analysing culture : The Cultural Capital and Social Exclusion project. In: Conference on Narrative, Numbers and Social Change, Manchester, England, Nov 2007. Published in: Cultural Sociology, Vol.3 (No.2). pp. 299-316.

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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1749975509105536

Abstract

This paper discusses the use of material generated in a mixed method investigation into cultural tastes and practices, conducted in Britain from 2003 to 2006, which employed a survey, focus groups and household interviews. The study analysed the patterning of cultural life across a number of fields, enhancing the empirical and methodological template provided by Bourdieu’s Distinction. Here we discuss criticisms of Bourdieu emerging from subsequent studies of class, culture and taste, outline the arguments related to the use of mixed methods and present illustrative results from the analysis of these different types of data. We discuss how the combination of quantitative and qualitative methods informed our analysis of cultural life in contemporary Britain. No single method was able to shed light on all aspects of our inquiry, lending support to the view that mixing methods is the most productive strategy for the investigation of complex social phenomena.

Item Type:

Conference Item (UNSPECIFIED)

Subjects:

H Social Sciences > HT Communities. Classes. Races

Divisions:

Faculty of Social Sciences > Sociology

Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):

Cuture -- Great Britain, Culture -- Research, Aesthetics -- Great Britain

Journal or Publication Title:

Cultural Sociology

Publisher:

Sage Publications Ltd.

ISSN:

1749-9755

Official Date:

July 2009

Dates:

Date	Event
July 2009	Published

Volume:

Vol.3

Number:

No.2

Page Range:

pp. 299-316

Identification Number:

10.1177/1749975509105536

Status:

Peer Reviewed

Access rights to Published version:

Restricted or Subscription Access

Funder:

Economic and Social Research Council (Great Britain) (ESRC)

Grant number:

No R000239801 (ESRC)

Title of Event:

Conference on Narrative, Numbers and Social Change

Type of Event:

Conference

Location of Event:

Manchester, England

Date(s) of Event:

Nov 2007

Related URLs:

http://cus.sagepub.com/current.dtl

References:

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