Stack S
Suicide Life Threat Behav. 1987 Summer;17(2):133-50. doi: 10.1111/j.1943-278x.1987.tb01026.x.
This paper is a critical review of selected methodological issues in the sociological study of suicide. It first distinguishes between two broad research orientations: the micro and macro approaches to the subject. The paper than focuses on a critical assessment of the dominant macro-level methodology. Three recurrent problems are identified: measurement issues on four key variables (suicide and parasuicide, economic conditions, religion, and political conditions such as war); problems in studying the effect of mass media stories on suicide; and reasons why we need to adopt a cross-national method in order to test sociological theories for contextual effects. Partial remedies to many of these problems are discussed.
本文是对自杀社会学研究中部分方法论问题的批判性综述。它首先区分了两种广泛的研究方向：对该主题的微观和宏观研究方法。接着，本文重点对占主导地位的宏观层面方法论进行批判性评估。确定了三个反复出现的问题：四个关键变量（自杀与准自杀、经济状况、宗教以及战争等政治状况）的测量问题；研究大众媒体报道对自杀影响时存在的问题；以及我们需要采用跨国方法来检验社会学理论的情境效应的原因。文中讨论了针对其中许多问题的部分补救措施。
