The Anthropological and Ethnographic Paradigmatic Approaches to Social Representation Theory

The present studies are included in an ample research project addressing the meta-theoretical analysis of the entire corpus of publications employing Social Representations Theory (SRT), initiated by de Rosa in 1994ab and crystallized in a European Commission approved and funded PhD program during 2013-2017 - representing the unified framework of the EC-funded project (ITN-People MSCA-IDP 2013, no. 6072799 http://www.europhd.eu/SoReComJointIDP) - within which de Rosa (2013) classified the scientific literature on SRT according to three criteria: the thematic one, the geo-cultural one and, respectively, the paradigmatic one. The following three papers are focused on the meta-theoretical analysis of the publications on SRT that applied the anthropological and ethnographic paradigmatic approach to this theory. According to de Rosa’s taxonomy from 2013b, there are five paradigmatic approaches to SRT, namely the structural approach, the socio-dynamic approach, the anthropological and ethnographic approach, the narrative approach (often integrated with the dialogical approach) and the modelling approach. Our paper focuses on the literature on SRT published in the anthropological and ethnographic paradigmatic approach to SRT. The first paper presents the state of the art of the anthropological and ethnographic approach to Social Representations Theory (SRT), exploring its spatial and temporal development, as well as its articulation with SRT from a conceptual and methodological standpoint. The Grid for Meta-Theoretical Analysis was applied on 295 publications using SRT extracted from the So.Re.Com “A.S. de Rosa” @-library in order to collect bibliographic data as well as information regarding how SRT was conceptualized within this paradigmatic approach, its relationship with other theories and constructs, as well as its thematic areas. The data was then submitted to textual analysis (respectively, the key words and abstracts of the publications), followed by a descriptive profile (absolute and relative frequencies) and finally, a Hierarchical Clustering on Principal Components analysis. Results suggest that this paradigmatic approach is theoretically consistent with the dynamic conceptualization of SRs, following the trend set out by Moscovici (1961), while methodologically, it combines methods specific to ethnographies with psychological instruments, as prescribed by its main exponents, Jodelet (1976; 1991; 2008) and Duveen and Lloyd (1986; 1990; 1993). Our findings support previous theoretical claims according to which the anthropological and ethnographic approach has brought a significant and original contribution to SRT. The second paper explores the development of the empirical research conducted within the anthropological and ethnographic approach to SRT, exploring its articulation with SRT from a conceptual and thematic point of view. Meta-theoretical analysis was conducted on 174 empirical publications using SRT extracted from the So.Re.Com “A.S. de Rosa” @-library by using the Grid for Meta-Theoretical Analysis, with the purpose of compiling bibliographic, conceptual, thematic and methodological data regarding our sample. We then applied a Hierarchical Clustering on Principal Components analysis on the information gathered and found three directions of research within this paradigmatic approach to SRT: firstly, a trend in which SRT is employed generically, followed by a direction of research focused on the transformation of Social Representations (SRs) and, finally, a line of research conducted within the socio-genetic perspective proposed by Duveen & Lloyd (1986). Moreover, we found that the original contributions to the anthropological and ethnographic paradigmatic approach to SRT have defined the current empirical traditions in our paradigm, which seem to be consistent with their initial formulations. Our results support both the originality and the pertinence-coherence of the contributions from this paradigmatic approach to the development and societal relevance of research conducted within the framework of SRT. Finally, the third paper presents a comparative exploration of the theoretical conceptualizations and methodological operationalizations of SRT in two of its most significant divergent developments. For this purpose, we conducted two studies, in which we employed data obtained from meta-theoretical analysis of publications using SRT and extracted from the So.Re.Com “A.S. de Rosa” @-library, subsequently analyzed with Hierarchical Clustering on Principal Components. Study 1, conducted on 1314 papers, focused on exploring potential differences between the two approaches in terms of their use of concepts specific to SRT; its findings reveal significant positive associations between the structural approach and elements regarding the structure of SRs, as well as significant negative associations of this approach with the functions, genesis, processes, transformation and transmission of SRs, all of which were characteristic for the anthropological and ethnographic approach. Study 2, conducted on 878 empirical papers, focused on investigating how SRT was applied empirically in the two approaches. Results showed that the structural approach is more focused on quantitative methodology and (quasi-) experimental studies conducted in laboratory settings as opposed to the anthropological approach, which is largely represented by field research employing more qualitative methods. Our findings are discussed in light of their contribution to SRT from an epistemological point of view, respectively their pertinence and coherence with the original theory proposed by Moscovici (1961).