Abstract
The concept of social research has generated a great impact on traditional paradigms. Observations can not be sustained on neutral observers; on the contrary they depend on his point of view and background. To conceive social research as an observation of second order assumes that the observers distinguish and capture the differences, the blind spots which while they observe are not observable. Observation of the second order constitutes the effort to observe that which the observer cannot see, consists in observing the other’s observation, it is accompanied by the probability of observing that which the observer could not observe. The objective of the new social sciences is the passage from the traditional research aimed at the “subjects” to the one that places importance in observing the observers who in their performing construct the worlds in which they operate. We should question ourselves, ¿how to observe the observations through which others distinguish, organize, value and give sense to theirdaily environment? The answer gets us closer to the techniques, theoretical fundamentals and methods that emphasize the cognitive and semiotic dimensions of the culture that connect with qualitative research.
