The methodological approaches in an experimental study of cultural transmission process

Abstract

In this paper, we will discuss the possibility of understanding experimental studies on cultural transmission processes from an articulation between the particular–general relation in the construction of knowledge, with an approximation between the notions of Nomothetic and Idiographic science. For this, we discuss data collected from an experimental project about the cultural transmission process drawing our attention, as much to the continuities as the discontinuities present in the process. Our discussions pointed to the need to consider, in experimental studies, the particular actions and significations of research participants, as well as the generalization that is dialogically constructed in the collectivity. With this in mind, it is proposed that at least three theoretical-methodological aspects cannot be lost sight of when considering the experimental study of the cultural transmission process: (1) the relation between Idiographic and Nomothetic science; (2) interdependent relational processes that occur between particularities and generalities; and (3) the need to appreciate continuities and discontinuities as part of the process of construction and analysis of experimental projects.