Journal of Iranian Social Studies

Abstract Because of its methodological innovation and of taking a converse view towards the social issues, the thought of Michel Foucault, has been received positively in Iran as well as in other countries; so that studies of researchers in the humanities have been influenced by Foucault's principles and ideas. But there exists a major problem in the use the Muslim thinkers make of Foucault's ideas, and it is the insensitivity to the requirements and culturalintellectual climate of Iran's Islamic community. Such insensitivity leads to deviations from the proper path of predominant intellectual-cultural climate which will be followed by a way of explaining, as far as the political-social issues are concerned. Therefore, in this paper, we use the critical approach of sociology, which constitutes our most important objective. It helps us to provide the correct understanding of human science researchers. To achieve this we, on the one hand, review and critically evaluate the foundation of Foucault thought, and other hand, we conduct a case study on several of his followers. Finally, what we reached in doing this critical research and analytical-descriptive survey is that adoption or incorporation of Foucault's ideas is not compatible with the basic idea of religion. This is because of principles of relativism and rejection of meaning and of the fact. But it is desirable and can be considered by us, as it attracts attention to an external matter. Yet one must be careful not to be trapped in settings set by historicity

Abstract Methodology in anthropology, like in other social sciences, is a central part of any research. Despite universalism in methodology in social sciences, in anthropological fieldwork it should be noted that field methods are constructed by the relation between the researcher and the field context. This relationship is formed in the context of its methodological assumptions and the political relationship between researcher and subject. The problem of methodology is very important in the researches that researcher belongs to the field. Indigenous anthropology is not common in anthropological methodologies that western researcher does fieldwork in nonwestern contexts. This paper is based on our fieldwork concerning religious rituals in Iran (our community) and proposes the methodology of Dialogue for indigenous anthropology. For justifying this method, firstly we critically review the paradigm of anthropological methodology and its insufficiencies for indigenous anthropologists. The basis of these ideas is that culture is mainly situated in unconscious part the people`s minds, and that the best medium to reach this part is the language.This is how the methodology of dialogue has been formed. According to this method, dialogue can help us to understand the implicit cultural knowledge that is common for the native anthropologist as well as the natives. This knowledge by the process of dialogue can be transmitted to conscious part of the mind; it can then be analyzed as anthropological and cultural subject.

Abstract Combined research methods are called the third movement in research methodology. It means that in conducting the social research, seeking combined research methods is needed for improving the methodology of research that started with qualitative and quantitative approaches. In conducting humanistic and social research, the main approaches have developed in different methodological directions. What is known as the first wave of methodological change, initiated the application of empiricism and quantification. After a period of exerting dominance, it was recognized that quantification was not successful in showing individuals’ thoughts and ideas on complex as well as specific issues and events. The second wave of methodology known as qualitative research developed in 1970-1980. It emphasized perception processes that led to consequences of issues under study. In the last decade, limitations of qualitative approaches in generalizing results, combination of research results with researcher specific values, and the problem of validity and reliability of data have been considered as important challenges in qualitative researches. Thus, it is important to consider combined approach as the third movement of methodology. The main purpose of combined method known as multi-characteristic approach is to combine qualitative and quantitative approaches for giving a more inclusive perception of research issues. In this approach limitations of each of qualitative and quantitative researches are compensated. In addition, this method offers more reliable evidence and proof for research that will help the researcher to answer the questions that are unanswered by each of the qualitative and quantitative approaches alone. The other purpose of this research is to study qualitative and quantitative methodology comparatively, in a manner so that to recognize methodological limitations of each of these two approaches and to offer combined methods as a basic type of approach in the humanities and social research.