Social Context

Social context refers to the specific setting in which social interaction takes place. Social context includes specific, often unique meanings and interpretations assigned by people within the given group. Understanding the social context of a particular setting demands that researchers seek to understand and interpret meaning according to those in the setting, rather than meaning according to the researcher.

Researchers face important considerations related to social context. First, researchers must understand that meaning and knowledge are socially defined. That is to say that the people in a particular group or population collectively define the meanings and significance assigned to symbols, words, objects, and actions. Thus, researchers must seek to understand what particular actions, words, and objects mean to people in a particular setting, as opposed to what these may mean to the researcher.

For example, a wave or wink in a particular culture or setting may communicate a warm greeting or friendly joke by one definition. In a different social context, however, these actions might signify a completely different message. In other words, the meaning of a particular action or behavior must be understood in relation to the setting and system of which it is a part.

Understanding of meaning in a particular social context requires that researchers understand that it may be impossible to separate this socially constructed knowledge from the specific setting. This impossibility leads to two issues of interest. First, making comparisons or generalizations across groups may be difficult or inappropriate and presents a much-discussed problem. Second, both qualitative research and social context demand that researchers report findings in the language used by the participants. Hence, social context is directly related to the language and descriptions used to report findings, which has been criticized in quantitative circles.

As researchers are themselves a part of a particular social context, they must be aware of their own experiences and perspectives and how this may influence their conclusions and interpretations of meaning. This situation has raised questions about the role of bias, which stems from the realization that there is no theory-free knowledge. The general thinking is that these points of view (or biases) cannot be eliminated completely; researchers should actively ask themselves questions such as, “What does this (action, word, symbol) mean to them?” Such a focus, while not eliminating bias, maintains the researcher's focus on the meanings defined by the participants, rather than on the researcher.

For example, researchers must be careful not to assign their own meanings to practices such as working, teaching, marrying, or sport. Rather, they must remember that understanding these actions requires an understanding of the meaning that individuals, not the researcher, assign to them. Only through the particular social context that is locally defined can meaning be understood.

The social context, including the researcher as part of that context, is an important consideration for all qualitative researchers. Most particularly is the realization that the interpretation of data must be contextualized if it is to be meaningful and understood by others.