Table Of ContentSITUATIONAL ANALYSIS
IN PRACTICE
Situational Analysis (SA) uses analytic maps of the situation, processes and relations
identifed using approaches pioneered in Grounded Theory. Creator of the method,
award-winning sociologist Adele E. Clarke, with Rachel Washburn and Carrie Friese,
show how the method can be, and has been, used in a variety of critical qualitative studies.
The entirely new second edition of this book ofers several chapters on the method and
new introductory material from the editors about developments in using SA in qualitative
inquiry. Part I introduces readers to the method of SA, discussing recent developments
in the feld. Part II ofers fve new chapters about various facets of the SA method,
including a history of Grounded Theory and Situational Analysis, SA as critical pragmatist
interactionism, using SA in managing a mixed-methods project, and SA mapping in
the social policy classroom and in clinical counseling as innovatively collaborative
analysis. Part III ofers six new exemplary research articles drawn from energy research
and international relations, public health research methods, disabled access to public
transportation, participation in conservation in a biosphere reserve, and PTSD and the
military. Authors’ refections on their experiences in using the method are also included.
These carefully selected new readings vividly demonstrate how widely this method
has travelled, successfully meeting the needs of diverse researchers seeking an innovative
relational approach to critically analyzing a wide array of data. Situational Analysis in
Practice will be of interest to undergraduate and graduate students practicing the SA
method across the social sciences, including sociology and healthcare among other
disciplines, as well as research scholars interested in qualitative inquiry.
Adele E. Clarke is Professor Emerita of Sociology and History of Health Sciences,
University of California, San Francisco. Extending Grounded Theory, she developed
Situational Analysis c. 2000. Rachel, Carrie and Adele have produced three books on
this method. Clarke’s sociohistorical studies of science, technology and biomedicine
were recognized by major awards.
Rachel Washburn is Associate Professor of Sociology and Director of the Health
and Society program at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. Her research
explores the politics of knowledge production in the environmental health sciences
with a particular focus on human biomonitoring.
Carrie Friese is a medical sociologist and Associate Professor at London School of
Economics. She works at the interface with science and technology studies and focuses
substantively on reproduction across human and non-human animals. She has explored
reproductive technologies that range from donor gametes for human infertility to
cloning for species preservation and animal husbandry practices for laboratory animals.
“Situational Analysis in Practice 2e is a unique book on research method. By having
scholars generously refect on how they practice Situational Analysis, this book
is an inspiring read. It shows how to think with the methodology as a creative
process, from the spark of the initial research idea until dissemination.”
Stine W. Adrian, Associate Professor in Techno-Anthropology,
Aalborg University, Denmark
“This book teaches how to observe and listen to the world. It shows what can be
gained by taking the time to listen to its rhythms and patterns, instead of ftting
them into predetermined categories. It ofers a method to do rigorous qualitative
social science while being open to surprise.”
Barbara Prainsack, Professor for Comparative
Policy Analysis, University of Vienna
“Teaching qualitative methodologies in general and especially Grounded Theory
and Situational Analysis, calls for published examples of good practice. Thus
this book was always useful, and the second edition even more encompassing
and instructive. It proves both the feasibility and the usefulness of mapping for
perspectives, social worlds and discourse positions.”
Jörg Strübing, Professor of Sociology, Universität Tübingen, Germany
SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS
IN PRACTICE
Mapping Relationalities
Across Disciplines
Second edition
Edited by Adele E. Clarke,
Rachel Washburn and Carrie Friese
Cover image: Olemedia / Getty Images
Second edition published 2022
by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
and by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2022 selection and editorial matter, Adele E. Clarke, Rachel Washburn
and Carrie Friese; individual chapters, the contributors
The right of Adele E. Clarke, Rachel Washburn and Carrie Friese to be
identifed as the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for
their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77
and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identifcation and explanation
without intent to infringe.
First edition published by Routledge 2015
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record for this book has been requested
ISBN: 978-0-367-47695-3 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-367-47099-9 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-03592-3 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003035923
Typeset in Bembo
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
For
Anselm Strauss
and
Kathy Charmaz
With profound appreciation for their scholarship,
collegiality and kindness
CONTENTS
Foreword xii
Reiner Keller
Preface and Acknowledgments xv
PART I
Introducing Situational Analysis 1
Introduction to PART I 3
1 Introducing Situational Analysis 5
Adele E. Clarke, Rachel Washburn and Carrie Friese
PART II
Situational Analysis as an Interpretive Method 37
Introduction to PART II 39
2 Situating Grounded Theory and Situational Analysis
in Interpretive Qualitative Inquiry 47
Adele E. Clarke (2019)
3 Situational Analysis as Critical Pragmatist Interactionism 97
Carrie Friese, Adele E. Clarke and Rachel Washburn (2021)
viii Contents
4 Refections on Using SA in a Large, Mixed-Methods
Project: Care as Science: The Role of Animal
Husbandry in Translational Medicine 111
Carrie Friese
5 Mapping Policy Issues: A Simple, Active-Learning
Exercise for Critical Thinking 126
Richard Holtzman (2019)
6 Creative Mapping Possibilities: Situational Analysis
as a Resource for Counseling 132
Tanya E. Mudry, Vanessa Vegter and Tom Strong
PART III
Exemplars of Situational Analysis Research
with Refections 141
Introduction to PART III 143
Papers in Each Mapping Category 149
Multiple SA Maps in Same Study
7 Making Energy Cultures Visible with Situational Analysis 151
Sarah Glück (2018)
Refections on Choreographing Messy and Complex
Situations in Energy Research 181
Sarah Glück
8 Situational Analysis for Complex Systems: Methodological
Development in Public Health Research 189
Wanda Martin, Bernie Pauly and Marjorie MacDonald (2016)
Refections on Why and How I Came to Use Situational
Analysis 207
Wanda Martin
Situational and/or Relational Map Focus 213
9 At the Margins of the Barents Energyscape 215
Hanna Lempinen (2018)
Contents ix
Refections on (Doing) Situational Analysis at the
Margins of International Relations 235
Hanna Lempinen
Social Worlds/Arenas Map Focus 241
10 Disabilities, the Design of Urban Transport Systems
and the City: A Situational Analysis 243
Andrés Felipe Valderrama Pineda (2015)
Refections on Using Situational Analysis to Study
Disabled Access to Public Transport 259
Andrés Valderrama
11 Re-Mapping Integrative Conservation: (Dis-)coordinate
Participation in a Biosphere Reserve in Mexico 265
Gabriela Alonso-Yanez, Kurt Thumlert and
Suzanne de Castell (2016)
Refections on Re-mapping Integrative Conservation:
(Dis)coordinate Participation in a Biosphere
Reserve in Mexico 287
Gabriela Alonso-Yanez, Suzanne de Castell and
Kurt Thumlert
Positional Maps Focus 297
12 PTSD in the U.S. Military, and the Politics of Prevalence 299
Michael Fisher (2014)
Refections on Mapping Discourses of PTSD Prevalence 318
Michael Fisher
Appendices 327
A. Grounded Theory and Situational Analysis Websites 329
B. Recommended Readings About Situational Analysis Method 331
C. Selected Exemplars of Situational Analysis by Discipline 336
D. Selected Exemplars of Situational Analysis by Mapping Focus 341
Previously Published Materials and Permissions 347
About the Editors and Contributors 349
Index 353
