Research gambits

Eminent sociologist | Andrew Abbott wrote the excellent book Methods of Discovery: Heuristics for the Social Sciences. The book is highly recommended for anyone thinking about pursuing a social science research career or even just trying to come up with a good thesis to finish a degree program. In the list below I am distilling out some of my favorite "gambits" he offers -- prompts for thinking about research questions -- and mixing in a few of my own.


 * Splitting and lumping. "Folks have mostly studied X and Y together, and they ought to be thought about separately." "Folks have mostly studied X and Y separately, but really these are both examples of Z, and let's study Z."


 * Key axes. Where is race in this phenomenon? Where is class? Gender? Sexuality? Ethnicity? Caste? Disability? Nationality? Citizenship? Culture? Age? Rural vs urban? Education? Labor?


 * Micro to macro. What can we see in individuals, groups, communities, societies? Families, neighborhoods, cities, states, countries?


 * Cooperation, competition.


 * Platforms and social media.