A Critical View into the Background of Sociological Studies on Lifestyle in Iran

Although lifestyle is not a merely sociological term، it owes it conceptualization to a greater or lesser degree to the sociological studies conducted on this concept since the emergence of this discipline. The conceptualization of lifestyle as a research topic can be traced back to the classical period of this field in the 19th century. At that time، pioneers in the field of sociology، while explaining the difference between society and community، focused on the forms and models of human lifestyle in the new society. This term has recently attracted a lot of attention in different researches and studies in the academic sphere in Iran. Two questions are of importance here: can lifestyle be formulated in the Iranian society as a sociological issue، in the same sense as it was formulated in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in Europe? Have the sociological researches conducted so far been able to deal with their own formulation، according to the frameworks of the problematic quality of lifestyle in the Iranian society in all aspects of a research، such as problem statement، concepts، theories، methods and findings? To answer this question، eleven scientific research articles، written in Iran with sociological approaches to lifestyle، have been examined using textual analysis method. The present article aims to study the approaches of the sample articles from different aspects of research، in the light of a sociological attitude toward the concept of lifestyle.