Forschungsverbund Unexplored Realities

Unexplored Realities is a research collective of qualitative social research scholars at the Research Institute of Sociology at the University of St.Gallen.

We specialize in the study of contemporary societies and social transformation. The key focus of our research is unexplored realities – domains that receive little attention in mass media reporting and everyday life narratives and are often neglected in the social sciences as well.

Our studies are based on the systematic first-hand exploration of lived everyday reality. We prefer working with qualitative methods, i.e. by using participant observation and by establishing direct contact with the persons in our research field. We thus register also those realities that do not appear in digital media or the mass media. As researchers, we work in a broad range of diverse social, cultural and organizational contexts. Embedded in everyday realities, we remain in touch with the current developments and issues.

We often closely intertwine research and teaching, and we are interested in both: the academic discourse with our colleagues in the research community as well as communicating our research beyond the boundaries of academia.

Our expertise includes:

• Conceptualizing and conducting social science research projects in a diverse range of socio-cultural and organizational contexts
• Application and development of qualitative research approaches
• Thematically diverse and pedagogically informed knowledge transfer in academic and extra-academic contexts
• Conceptualization and organization of academic conferences and workshops