Lazarsfeld’s methodological flexibility allowed reconciliation of radical research with institutional demands

Evidence

These impressions were not entirely accurate. What was genuinely characteristic of Lazarsfeld was that his delight in technicalitiesin collaborative social-psychological research in which a multiplicity of methods could be used to find the answers to questions that had been reduced into checkable itemsmade it easy for him to reconcile his own scholarly interests, despite their unconventionality, with the expectations both of his clients and of the academic system. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 1000

Categorization

• DEFINE: Contrasts ‘administrative research’ (practically-oriented, client-funded, data-driven) with Lazarsfeld’s actual reconciling position; frames the taxonomy of research types within Critical Theory.
• XREF: connects to: Lazarsfeld privileged music in the radio project to soften controversial findings — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 997; Lazarsfeld’s methodological collaboration helped the exiled Frankfurt Institute enter American academia — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 687; Lazarsfeld deliberately carved out theory-friendly space for European critical music research. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 985 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• Lazarsfeld explicitly reconciled theory-first analysis with eventual empirical listener research #expands (0.85) — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 994