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The Intcractionist Study Of Social Organization: A Note On Method *
Author(s) -
Denzin Norman K.
Publication year - 1979
Publication title -
symbolic interaction
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.874
H-Index - 47
eISSN - 1533-8665
pISSN - 0195-6086
DOI - 10.1525/si.1979.2.1.59
Subject(s) - symbolic interactionism , social organization , sociology , core (optical fiber) , public relations , epistemology , social science , political science , engineering , telecommunications , philosophy
A symbolic interactionist approach to the study of social organizations is specified. Materials are drawn from an on‐going investigation of the American liquor industry, which is treated as a fragmented organization. The core actors, activities and interactional locales of the industry are identified. The problems of establishing a historical baseline for a case study are discussed, as are the problems of confronting archival data, locating informants, and establishing interactive linkages. The stages in writing a case history of an organization are presented and illustrated with examples drawn from the American liquor industry.