The Making (Sense) of Traces. Connecting Ginzburg to Digital Sociology

This article addresses the fundamental methodological challenges posed by trace-based empirical materials, particularly digital footprints, within sociological inquiry. Drawing on Ginzburg’s Indiciary Paradigm, the analysis contrasts its retrospective ascent (Manifest-to- Latent) with the prospective logic of the Galilean and Lazarsfeldian models. The article formalizes the core methodological hurdle of zero-agency data: the entire burden of meaning attribution rests upon the researcher. Then, the framework of ichnology is applied to sociological inquiry, with reference to that of digital footprints. This framework defines the trace’s meaning as the interaction between the trace maker and the depositional context (algorithmic design). We argue that, in the digital realm, the methodological complexity introduced by algorithmic recursivity and user awareness of algorithms renders the pursuit of “genuine” traces counterproductive. Instead, following the lesson of the indicial paradigm means accepting the strategically contaminated trace as a minute, manifest clue of complex and latent socio-psychological objects.