Быстрая этнография (REAPFQI+): к прагматике полевых обследований

Abstract

The market of sociological research, in spite of all the limitations of recent years, demonstrates notable growth, both in Russia and globally. Nevertheless, we do not have enough data that could help answer the question of what this growth is related to. The fact is that we have at least some data on this market, which is largely closed from the outside observer, only in the case of institutionalized players: organizations whose activities are available for audit. At the same time, there is a tendency towards the expansion of the non-institutionalized segment of this market, about which, in general, we know quite little. The author, relying on current literature on the subject, attempts to examine the processes of proliferation of research methodologies and a fusion of field techniques that are leading to a rapid growth of modern social surveys. The article provides a methodological exposition of contemporary approaches to fieldwork in applied social surveys. The author reconstructs the field conceptualizations characteristic of rapid ethnography (REAPFQI+), the axiomatics of fieldwork, and notions of field pragmatics expressed in the choice of specific research techniques. The conclusion is made that, in comparison with traditional sociological research, REAPFQI+-styled social surveys are not aimed at achieving scientific truth, but are purely a field technique, the ideal of which is the pragmatic achievement of applied results.