Marienthal

Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used in the field research to capture complex ways of experiencing job loss among workers in the village of Marienthal, near Vienna. The method of the study – participant observation – is one of the most important methods of ethnography. The study provides a comprehensive description of psychosocial consequences of long-term unemployment benefits on affected families and the entire village community in Marienthal. The study known as “Marienthal” has become “classic” reading for generations of students of sociology; both professionals dealing with issues of unemployment and sociologists studying family refer to it as well as supporters of qualitative research methods insociology do. Huge influence of the publication on Austria can be proved by various unemployment studies showing that the level of unemployment in Austria is one of the lowest (4 %).