Involvement and Detachment: the Sociologist and her/his environment

Abstract

The author reflects upon the extremely useful and difficult balance which all sociologists must perform between involvement and detachment, based on her personal experiences as an «involved» sociologist. She summarizes four proposals: sociologists must avoid the mistake of placing themselves «above» the «objects» of their studies; they must acknowledge and analyse their ideologies, and be capable of understanding how they influence their research practice; social scientists should consciously identify the compulsions affecting them, and they must avoid dehumanising those social actors in their research.