质性资料分析中的质性远读策略

The Qualitative Style of Distant Reading in Qualitative Data Analysis

质性资料分析是发挥社会学想象力的一个重要环节。如何做好这个环节,尚缺乏足够的方法论讨论。莫莱蒂所说的“远读”可以给人以启发。但他所说的远读促使研究者朝量化远读方向发展,脱离了传统质性资料分析的范围,而传统的质性资料分析方法同样也可以采纳远读策略,但不是量化远读,而是质性远读。与量化远读不同,质性远读既不需要把资料文本变成海量文本或“大数据”,也不需要人为地减少分析指标,而是借助抽象来拉开与资料文本的心理距离,从而以更为整体的视野来“俯视”资料。虽然质性远读和传统质性研究方法都强调思维抽象和理论概括的作用,但二者在最高层次的思维抽象和理论概括策略上存在时间性和功能性区别。质性远读的策略主要有三种:及早提高解释的抽象层次、及早采纳理论溯因推理和借助备忘录撰写。

Qualitative data analysis is one of steps for developing sociological imagination.There is still lack of full methodological discussions on the issue of how to do this well.Franco Moretti’s(2005)concept of“dis⁃tant reading”gives us an inspiration for solving this problem.However,his ideas on distant reading take researchers to the road of quantitative style of distant reading,which departs from the scope of traditional qualitative research.But distant reading can also be employed in traditional qualitative research,not in a quantitative style,but in a qualitative style.The latter differs from the former in the fact that it is neither necessary to take massive texts or big data for analysis,nor necessary to reduce the variables or indicators for analysis.Qualitative style of distant reading is characterized by opening up psychological distance be⁃tween researchers and texts of data,which allows researchers to look from a height down to the data in a more holistic way.Despite for the fact that in both traditional qualitative research and qualitative style of distant reading the abstract thinking and theoretical generalization are emphasized,both differ from each other in the timing and functioning of abstract thinking and theoretical generalization.There are three strat⁃egies in qualitative style of distant reading:enhancing the level of abstraction as early as possible,adopt⁃ing abduction logic as early as possible and using memo writing for help.