Citation

Miethe I. Hist. Fam. 2002; 7(2): 207-224.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2002, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1016/S1081-602X(02)00092-1

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

A case reconstruction study of the biographies of women in the former dissident movements of East Germany exemplifies how empirical results are dependent on the choice of data gathering and analytical methods. The primary result, on the one hand, is that the political activity of the women studied was closely related to their family histories, especially with respect to the Nazi period in Germany. On the other hand, different dimensions of family history become apparent depending on the method of analysis applied. Therefore, the respondents' self-analyses cannot substitute for a reconstruction meant to determine exactly which part of the family history is significant and what its function is.