【作者简介】张兆曙，杭州师范大学公共管理学院社会学系

【文章来源】《社会学研究》2026年第3期

【内容提要】案例研究的方法论困境在很大程度上是案例的本体论意义被悬置所致。本文遵循从实求知的认知形成路径，将案例研究方法论自觉的起点回溯至案例本体的存在方式，构建本体论、方法论和认识论之间“大循环”的知识生产逻辑。在此基础上，本文区分和系统辨析了案例研究的形态学范式和发生学范式。前者遵循类型化逻辑，侧重于以典型为基础的特征分析，通过以小见大的方式理解世界；后者则基于事件化逻辑，侧重于以过程为基础的机制分析，力图从可见的故事中发现不可见的机制。

【关键词】案例研究；本体论；方法论；形态学；发生学

【全文链接】https://shxyj.ajcass.com/Magazine/show/?id=122860

Ontological Types and Methodological Reflexivity in Case Study: On the Distinction Between the Morphological and Genetic Paradigms

Abstract: The methodological predicament of case study is, to a large extent, attributable to the suspension of the ontological significance of the case itself. Following a cognitive path of deriving “knowledge from practice”, this article returns the point of departure for methodological reflexivity in case study to the mode of existence of the case as ontology, thereby constructing a “grand cycle”of knowledge production linking ontology, methodology, and epistemology. On this basis, the article distinguishes and systematically analyzes the morphological paradigm and the genetic paradigm of case study. The former follows a logic of typification and emphasizes feature-based analysis grounded in typical cases, seeking to understand the world by “seeing big things through small ones”; the latter is based on a logic of eventalization and emphasizes process-based mechanism analysis, aiming to uncover invisible mechanisms from visible stories.