Projective techniques in sociological research: theory and practice

The article provides an overview of the history of the development of the projective approach in personality assessment, which allows us to determine the theoretical foundations for the use of projective techniques in empirical sociology. The classification is given with practical examples of application in conducting qualitative sociological research. Situations when projective techniques are necessary are associated with the peculiarities of the problem under consideration, an increased level of possible manifestation of conformist positions, the need to obtain deeper ideas about the object under study. The creative, playful nature of projective techniques, the unexpected effect of using various stimuli, contributes to a higher involvement of survey participants in conducting research, which reduces the number of refusals of respondents to participate.

The main difficulties in the application of projective techniques are associated with the low standardization of the conduct and analysis of the data obtained, the dependence in interpretation on the personality of the researcher. Therefore, data from several methods are taken into account, supplemented with other sociological methods for reliability, analysis is combined at the rational and unconscious levels in order to compare the expression of the image and its modality.

All projective techniques, depending on the selected stimuli, have a different orientation, the unifying factor is their following distinctive characteristics: the freedom of the respondents' response without restrictions in the choice and any assessment in terms of correctness and error; consideration of the criterion of uncertainty and ambiguity in the selection of stimuli; a hidden understanding of the subsequent interpretation of the methodology for the interviewee.

The author describes in more detail the practical experience of using the projective collage technique based on nonverbal associations, procedures for completing sentences, writing a script, constructing the “Little Men” technique, and the expressive graphic method “Lifeline”. Their effectiveness is influenced by the situation of carrying out a projective technique in compliance with all necessary requirements, including mandatory explanation by the respondent; combination with other methods; analysis and subsequent interpretation as qualitative data, with research, not diagnostic purposes.

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