John H Stanfield II - Black Reflective Sociology

Epistemology, Theory, and Methodology

John H. Stanfield, II

First published 2011 by Left Coast Press, Inc.

Published 2016 by Routledge
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

Stanfield, John H.
Black reflective sociology: epistemology, theory, and methodology / John H. Stanfield, II.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-1-59874-646-4 (hardcover: alk. paper) ISBN 978-1-59874-647-1 (pbk.: alk. paper)
1. African AmericansResearch. 2. African AmericansSocial conditions. 3. Ethnocentrism
United StatesHistory. 4. United StatesRace relationsResearch. I. Title.
E184.7.S69 2011
305.896'073dc22

2011009012

ISBN 978-1-59874-646-4 hardcover
ISBN 978-1-59874-647-1 paperback

Cover design by Piper Wallis

Many of these articles have been previously published in other journals. These original citations are acknowledged as follows:

(1985): Stanfield, John H., II. The Ethnocentric Basis of Social Science, Review of Research in Education, vol. 12:387415.

(1993): Stanfield, John H., II. Epistemological Considerations in Race and Ethnicity in Research Methods. Race and Ethnicity in Research Methods. Sage Publications.

(1999): Stanfield, John H., II. Slipping Through the Front Door: Relevant Social Scientific Evaluation in the People of Color Century, American Journal of Evaluation, vol. 20:415431.

(2000): Stanfield, John H., II. Prophetic Social Scientists. Yeakey, Carol (Editor) For Edmund W . Gordon: Producing Knowledge, Pursuing Understanding (Advances in Education in Diverse Communities: Research, Policy and Praxis , Volume 1), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, pp. 271282.

(2011): Stanfield, John H., II. Epistemological Reconsiderations and New Considerations: Or What Have I Been Learning since 1993. Rethinking Race and Ethnicity in Research Methods. Left Coast Press, Inc.

(1985): Stanfield, John H., II. Theoretical and Ideological Barriers to the Study of Race-Making in Mature Industrial Societies, Research on Race and Ethnic Studies: JAI Press Annual, vol. 4:161181.

(1991): Stanfield, John H., II. Racism in America and Other Race-Centered Nation-States: Synchronic Considerations, The International Journal of Comparative Sociology, vol. 32:243360.

(1992): Stanfield, John H., II. Ethnic Pluralism and Civic Responsibility in Post-Cold War America, Journal of Negro Education , Summer, vol. 61:287300.

(1994): Stanfield, John H., II. The Nebulous State of American Race Relations Theories: Anomalies Paradigmatic Erosion, and Decline, Research on Race and Ethnic Studies : JAI Press Annual.

(1995): Stanfield, John H., II. The Myth of Race and the Human Sciences, Journal of Negro Education, vol. 64:218231.

(1996): Stanfield, John H., II. Multiethnic Societies and Regions, American Behavioral Scientist, vol. 40:817.

(2005): Stanfield, John H., II. Sociological and Theological Musings about Race as a Dehumanizing Human Experience (unpublished paper).

(1993): Stanfield, John H., II. Methodological Reflections: An Introduction to Race and Ethnicity in Research Methods. Race and Ethnicity in Research Methods. Sage Publications.

(1987): Stanfield, John H., II. Life History Analysis and Racial Stratification Research, American Behavioral Scientist, vol. 30:430440.

(1987): Stanfield, John H., II. Archival Methods in Race Relations Research, American Behavioral Scientist, April.vol. 30:366379.

(1994): Stanfield, John H., II., Ethnic Modeling in Qualitative Research, in Denzin, Norman and Lincoln, Yvonne, (Editors) Handbook on QualitativeMethods, Sage, pp.175188.

(1996): Stanfield, John H., II. Racial and Ethnic Conflict Studies: Methodological Dilemmas, Research in Human Social Conflict , JAI Press , vol.1:365381.

(2006): Stanfield, John H., II. Psychoanalytic Ethnography and the Transformation of Racially Wounded Communities, The International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, vol. 19:387399.

(2006): Stanfield, John H., II. The Possible Restorative Justice Functions of Qualitative Research, The International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, vol. 40 (Fall).

As a sociologist of knowledge even as an undergraduate student entering graduate studies, I was and remain more interested in writing about matters where ideas and other mental constructs come from the ones embedded in the biographies of their creators in their historically grounded societal environments than the usual brands of unreflexive empirical research. Don't get me wrong, I have from time to time dabbled in empirical research in efforts to test theoretical ideas and to develop derived models. But, even when I get my hands dirty, so to speak, in an empirical world, my major concern is to enter deep into the waters of thinking reflexively about meanings and how to construct new ones. That is the reason I enjoy being so thorough and massive in digging as deep as I can into bodies of literature to construct patterns of meaning. and to also attempt to develop new ones from both what the patterns point to and what falls between the cracks in silence.