A MULTIMETHOD APPROACH TO FRAMING DISPUTES: SAME-SEX MARRIAGE ON TRIAL IN OBERGEFELL V. HODGES*

Abstract

Social movements scholars have widely used the framing perspective to analyze meaning-making related to social movements and contentious politics. Qualitative methods have helped to illuminate how activists frame social issues to combine meanings in strategic ways. By contrast, linear statistical modeling is ill-suited to analyze the interdependent and circuitous aspects of collective action frames. This study offers a multimethod approach that uses an abductive framework to combine techniques from computational text analysis and network modeling along with interpretive coding. I demonstrate this approach in the context of framing disputes through legal mobilization over the same-sex marriage in the case of Obergefell v. Hodges. By examining Court discourse and amicus briefs, I show the coordination of similarities and distinctions among opposing social movement groups and elite actors. Future research can expand this method for both case studies and comparative analyses of movements.