Naturalistic Inquiry

The term, “naturalistic study,” or some variant of it, has been circulating in the social sciences for at least threequarters of a century. Matza (1969: 5) contended that a naturalistic investigation “strives to remain true to the nature of the phenomena under study or scrutiny.” Leonard Schatzman and Anselm Strauss (1973: 5) opined that the naturalistic researcher “must get close to the people whom he studies; he understands their actions are best comprehended on the spot – in the natural, ongoing environment where they live and work.” Finally, Blumer (1979) argues that naturalistic inquiry refers to a special form of inquiry that respects the natural integrity of the empirical problem under investigation by requiring the researcher to study its natural ongoing character without imposing a fixed preconceived order upon it. According to Blumer (1969: 152), naturalistic research “depends on patient, careful and imaginative life study, not quick shortcuts or technical instruments,” so that “it has the virtue of remaining in close and continuing relations with the natural social world.” Although sociologists have used the term “naturalistic inquiry” for all these years, many remain unclear about its origin and, especially, the “ins and outs” of performing a naturalistic study.