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Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.zawork. It is possible to summarize the logic of the project in the following steps:I Statement of the problem: What were the contributory factors to theReiger Park disturbances?II Conceptualization and operationalization: Smelser’s theory of collectivebehaviour. According to the theory, data have to be collected on sixvariables: structural conduciveness, structural strain, and so on.III Data collection: By making use of more qualitative methods (interviewsand analysis of newspaper reports), data relating to the relevant variablesare collected.IV Analysis and interpretation: The data are analyzed in terms of thecategories of Smelser’s theory. The eventual interpretation presents anindication (see Conclusion) of the manner in which the events may beunderstood if we accept that the theory is approximately true. Theconclusions reached by the authors are supported (inductively) by thedata which had been collected, i.e. the study provides additionalconfirmation of Smelser’s theory.It is now possible to indicate more explicitly what analysis and interpretationinvolve. In the case of this study, the analysis of the data were carried out byemploying Smelser’s theory. The relevant variables have already beenidentified in the theory. The task of the researchers was thus to identify therelevant determinants of collective behaviour in the data. They were requiredto indicate which data fitted the category of generalized beliefs, which datacould be classified as related to the category of structural conduciveness, andso on. Analysis as a process of resolution is, therefore, relatively easilyaccomplished when an existing theory is used as a frame of reference.It is evident that the manner in which the data are eventually interpreted is alsosuggested by the theory. According to Smelser’s theory, the six determinantsare essential preconditions to uninstitutionalized collective behaviour. Whenthese six determinants are found to be present, it is likely that this type ofcollective behaviour will follow. The fact that the researchers had gatheredsufficient evidence (according to themselves) about the presence of the sixdeterminants in the given situation, led them to conclude that: The cause of thehostile outburst can be related to the real shortage of accommodation and theineffective communication channel by means of which residents could directtheir grievances to the City Council.It is quite evident that the final interpretation is based upon two issues:(i) Are the data which have been collected reliable?(ii) If it were to be assumed that the data are reliable, do they provideadequate support for the conclusion?104