Historical Analysis of the Qualitative Method in Contemporary Iranian Social Sciences

Qualitative research is increasingly gaining more legitimacy and acceptance in contemporary Iranian social sciences. Clarifying the trajectories of methodology is a way to understand the impacts of historical, social and political contexts on the development of social knowledge. The current paper aims to trace the developments of qualitative social inquiry as a genre tied with literal traditions in contemporary history. The proposed argument is that the methodological shifts in Iran have been affected by the process of social differentiation, encounter with western social science achievements and science policies both inside and outside of university. On the other hand, the complexity and multi layered nature of qualitative research require a serious attention to its historical roots. The paper ends with a brief evaluation of opportunities and constraints of qualitative research in Iran and a picture of its future prospects.