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Stefan Timmermans

Bio: Stefan Timmermans is an academic researcher from University of California, Los Angeles. The author has contributed to research in topics: Health care & Sociology of health and illness. The author has an hindex of 36, co-authored 117 publications receiving 7969 citations. Previous affiliations of Stefan Timmermans include Brandeis University & Northwestern University.


Papers
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors argue that abduction, rather than induction, should be the guiding principle of empirically based theory construction, which is based on the theory of inference, meaning, and action of pragmatist philosopher Charles S. Peirce.
Abstract: A critical pathway for conceptual innovation in the social is the construction of theoretical ideas based on empirical data. Grounded theory has become a leading approach promising the construction of novel theories. Yet grounded theory–based theoretical innovation has been scarce in part because of its commitment to let theories emerge inductively rather than imposing analytic frameworks a priori. We note, along with a long philosophical tradition, that induction does not logically lead to novel theoretical insights. Drawing from the theory of inference, meaning, and action of pragmatist philosopher Charles S. Peirce, we argue that abduction, rather than induction, should be the guiding principle of empirically based theory construction. Abduction refers to a creative inferential process aimed at producing new hypotheses and theories based on surprising research evidence. We propose that abductive analysis arises from actors’ social and intellectual positions but can be further aided by careful methodolo...

1,864 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Reviewing the relevance of standards and standardization in diverse theoretical traditions and sociological subfields, it is called for careful empirical analysis of the specific and unintended consequences of different sorts of standards operating in distinct social domains.
Abstract: Standards and standardization aim to render the world equivalent across cultures, time, and geography. Standards are ubiquitous but underappreciated tools for regulating and organizing social life in modernity, and they lurk in the background of many sociological works. Reviewing the relevance of standards and standardization in diverse theoretical traditions and sociological subfields, we point to the emergence and institutionalization of standards, the difficulties of making standards work, resistance to standardization, and the multiple outcomes of standards. Rather than associating standardization with totalizing narratives of globalization or dehumanization, we call for careful empirical analysis of the specific and unintended consequences of different sorts of standards operating in distinct social domains.

721 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is argued that universality is always `local universality', and that, in this process of obtaining local universality, the protocols themselves are necessarily changed and partially reappropriated.
Abstract: In this paper, we argue that universality is always `local universality'. The achievement of local universality depends on how standards manage the tension involved in transforming work practices, while simultaneously being grounded in those practices. We investigate how this is done in two case studies — an oncology protocol and the Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) protocol. These protocols are viewed as technoscientific scripts which crystallize multiple trajectories. In the process of obtaining local universality, we illustrate how protocols feed off previous standards and practices. We then indicate how the protocols function through the distributed work of a multitude of heterogeneous actors. Finally, we argue that, in this process, the protocols themselves are necessarily changed and partially reappropriated.

557 citations

Book
30 Sep 2014
TL;DR: Tavory and Timmermans as discussed by the authors provide a navigational map for constructing empirically based generalizations in qualitative research and outline an accessible way to think about observations, methods, and theories that nurtures theory-formation without locking it into predefined conceptual boxes.
Abstract: In Abductive Analysis, Iddo Tavory and Stefan Timmermans provide a new navigational map for constructing empirically based generalizations in qualitative research. They outline an accessible way to think about observations, methods, and theories that nurtures theory-formation without locking it into predefined conceptual boxes. The authors view research as continually moving back and forth between a set of observations and theoretical generalizations. To craft theory is to then pitch one's observations in relation to other potential cases, both within and without one's field. The book provides novel ways to approach the challenges that plague qualitative researchers across the social sciences-how to think about the relation between methods and theories, how to conceptualize causality, how to construct axes of variation, and how to leverage the researcher's community of inquiry. Abductive Analysis is a landmark work that shows how a pragmatist approach provides a more productive and fruitful way to conduct qualitative research.

513 citations

Book
01 Jan 1972
TL;DR: In this paper, the impact of gender, race, and inequality on health and health disparities is discussed, including the growing influence of the pharmaceutical industry, patient safety, evidence-based medicine and quality of care, health social movements, genetics, religion, spirituality, and health.
Abstract: Composed entirely of specially commissioned chapters by some of the outstanding scholars in medical sociology, this edition reflects important changes in the study of health and illness. In addition to updated and reconceived chapters on the impacts of gender, race, and inequality on health, this volume has new chapters on topics that include: social networks, neighborhoods, and social capital; disability; dying and "the right to die"; health disparities; the growing influence of the pharmaceutical industry; patient safety; evidence-based medicine and quality of care; health social movements; genetics; religion, spirituality, and health

459 citations


Cited by
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Reading a book as this basics of qualitative research grounded theory procedures and techniques and other references can enrich your life quality.

13,415 citations

Posted Content
TL;DR: Deming's theory of management based on the 14 Points for Management is described in Out of the Crisis, originally published in 1982 as mentioned in this paper, where he explains the principles of management transformation and how to apply them.
Abstract: According to W. Edwards Deming, American companies require nothing less than a transformation of management style and of governmental relations with industry. In Out of the Crisis, originally published in 1982, Deming offers a theory of management based on his famous 14 Points for Management. Management's failure to plan for the future, he claims, brings about loss of market, which brings about loss of jobs. Management must be judged not only by the quarterly dividend, but by innovative plans to stay in business, protect investment, ensure future dividends, and provide more jobs through improved product and service. In simple, direct language, he explains the principles of management transformation and how to apply them.

9,241 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The general view of descriptive research as a lower level form of inquiry has influenced researchers conducting qualitative research to claim methods they are really not using and not to claim the method they are using: namely, qualitative description.
Abstract: The general view of descriptive research as a lower level form of inquiry has influenced some researchers conducting qualitative research to claim methods they are really not using and not to claim the method they are using: namely, qualitative description. Qualitative descriptive studies have as their goal a comprehensive summary of events in the everyday terms of those events. Researchers conducting qualitative descriptive studies stay close to their data and to the surface of words and events. Qualitative descriptive designs typically are an eclectic but reasonable combination of sampling, and data collection, analysis, and re-presentation techniques. Qualitative descriptive study is the method of choice when straight descriptions of phenomena are desired.

9,029 citations

01 Jan 2009

7,241 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: As an example of how the current "war on terrorism" could generate a durable civic renewal, Putnam points to the burst in civic practices that occurred during and after World War II, which he says "permanently marked" the generation that lived through it and had a "terrific effect on American public life over the last half-century."
Abstract: The present historical moment may seem a particularly inopportune time to review Bowling Alone, Robert Putnam's latest exploration of civic decline in America. After all, the outpouring of volunteerism, solidarity, patriotism, and self-sacrifice displayed by Americans in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks appears to fly in the face of Putnam's central argument: that \"social capital\" -defined as \"social networks and the norms of reciprocity and trustworthiness that arise from them\" (p. 19)'has declined to dangerously low levels in America over the last three decades. However, Putnam is not fazed in the least by the recent effusion of solidarity. Quite the contrary, he sees in it the potential to \"reverse what has been a 30to 40-year steady decline in most measures of connectedness or community.\"' As an example of how the current \"war on terrorism\" could generate a durable civic renewal, Putnam points to the burst in civic practices that occurred during and after World War II, which he says \"permanently marked\" the generation that lived through it and had a \"terrific effect on American public life over the last half-century.\" 3 If Americans can follow this example and channel their current civic

5,309 citations