Producing possible Hannahs: theory and the subject of research

Abstract

This article presents and compares three analyses of qualitative data drawn from an ethnographic case study using distinctive theoretical approaches. The article shows the power of theoretical approaches to constitute the "subject" of a study and to constitute the character of the social world in which such a subject is situated. The three readings of the data produce different possible subjects located in differently constituted possible worlds. By putting theory at the center of analysis, the article shows how theoretical approaches radically influence what can be found in the data and how it can be found there.