00:00: The same kind of issue can be studied through the lens of different theories. It’s therefore important that you make clear in your work what theory you’re using, as it helps readers to understand your perspective and assumptions. Scholars have also referred to this as the visibility of theory. There may be different levels of visibility of theory. Some researchers may use theory but not mention it in their research at all, or only partially, or as an afterthought.
00:38: Others are much better in consistently explaining how they have applied theory to their research. It’s very important to make your use of theory visible, by explaining to your reader how theory has guided and directed the different phases of your research, from the formulation of your research questions, to your choice of conceptual framework and methodology, until your actual data collection and analysis.
01:02: When making your use of theory visible, it might also mean that you show that your research has been informed by different theories. You don’t always have to use one single theory. For instance, as you go about doing your literature review, you may realise that you need to combine multiple theories to shed light on a particular issue. Making your theory visible also involves reflecting on the choices that you have made in your choice of theory and concepts and how this serves to advance the existing literature.
01:35: Let’s look at an example to examine how you might go about making your choice of theory visible to a reader. In this paper on the study of urban immobilities in Lagos, the author explains that he started out his research by drawing on the theory of situational stratification, to study the everyday mobilities of residents of Lagos. But, for this theory to make sense in the context of Lagos, he realised that there was a need to adapt it in order to fully capture the meaningful nuances involved and how stratification is manifested on the ground, in ways that might otherwise be overlooked.
02:15: He therefore prefers to use the notion of situational inequality to conceptualise the emerging unequal power relationships between individuals in the micro-situation of daily movements. This stands in sharp contrast to the ideal type of a micro-hierarchy, particularly in a context marked by high levels of social inequality and the coexistence of different types of transport systems and actors. Instead of universally applying the theory of situational stratification, this context led the author to highlight three kinds of difference and change in the context of Lagos.
02:59: First, he teases out how situational inequality is manifested in the nuances of urban immobilities, which residents of Lagos, especially drivers of informal taxi buses and private car drivers, engage with every day. Second, he explores the implications of situational inequality to a sense of place. Third, he adds a dialectical interpretation of situational inequality, meaning that situational inequality can affect the power dynamics in that particular situation, though it does not largely transform societal structures in and of themselves.
03:41: He then proceeds to linking this adapted theory to the research methods he employed by explaining that, in order to understand the situated nature of inequality, there is a need to link micro-evidence up to macro-conditions. He therefore advocates for a people-centered and experience-based research approach, which he pursued by doing a micro-sociological study of the public transit system, combined with neighborhood-level ethnographic research, as well as participant observation, informal interviews, and semi-structured interviews with transport passengers, conductors, and drivers.
04:19: He ends the paper by summing up what his research on the situatedness of mobility and inequality in Lagos contributes to mobilities research, and also how this approach to situational inequality can be applied to other contexts of urban immobilities in which the formality and informality of transport systems co-exist.
04:42: In doing so, he shows the importance of asking yourself: what is it actually that you’re contributing to? How are you doing that? And why does it matter? Knowing how to identify your research and your contributions and how they advance existing scholarship is a very important skill and a key element for a successful academic career.