Some problems of the methodology of sociological research: Hommage to Vojin Milic

Abstract

This article aims to achieve two main goals. Firstly, authors have tried to reconstruct the position of Vojin Milic (1922-1996) in the development of thought about (research) method. Therefore, they compared his standpoint with those developed one generation earlier (Znaniecki), those of his contemporaries (Good and Hatt), as well as with the work of present-day authors (Bryman). Special attention was paid to the importance of Milic?s study of the history of methodological thought and epistemology regarding the emergence of his ideas on data collecting methodology and procedures relevant for the analysis of causality. Secondly, along with this historical and scientific study, and guided by Merton?s critics of adumbrations, authors undertook a systematic examination of relationships between various research and analytical procedures within sociology: primary (original) experience, observation, sequential analysis, grounded theory, comparative method and multiple-case study.