ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines the potential of qualitative research designs for the study of inequality. It focuses on qualitative contributions to class analysis and discusses promising approaches to the analysis of dimensions of inequality outlined in this volume: gender, migration, race, caste, education, and poverty. The chapter also focuses on the main themes related to the general analysis of inequality in the social sciences. Quantitative research predominantly relies on the analysis of large-scale structural or survey data, operating on a quite decontextual level of analysis. Research on inequality is still predominantly quantitative-oriented, analyzing large-scale datasets of structural and survey data, e.g. regarding income distribution, life chances according to class, race, and gender, discrimination in the labor market, impact of state welfare regimes. A traditional field of qualitative social research linked to inequality is research on poverty. The chapter concludes with some remarks on the future of qualitative research in inequality research.
