‘Wat reg is, is reg’: 'n Inhoudsontleding van sosiologika by 'n kleurinsident

Abstract

Abstract ‘What's right, Is right’: Content-analysis or socio-logic in an incident or race discrimination. An incident of 'petty apartheid' in 1982 lead to a long debate in the press. This article reports on the results of a contentanalysis of the debate. Methodological aspects of this technique, the qualitative/quantitative distinction, as well as technical decisions in the application of content-analysis are discussed. Arguments in the debate are categorized and analyzed as ‘socio-logical’ constructions. It is shown that everyday arguments of ‘ordinary people’ contain social attitudes, beliefs and interpretations that 'bend' and transform rationality and formal logic. This 'social logic' attributes to social thought and social reality a human and humane quality that makes sociological analyses both problematic and challenging.