Relevance and time in Schutzian theory : methodological implications to interpretative biographical research

Together with the concept of lifeworld, the concept of relevance plays a central role in the sociology developed by Alfred Schutz. Both concepts are in some way connected to each other, as occurs with most of the concepts he deals with, it means, the exploration of one concept leads necessarily to another one, making the understanding of Schutz' work sometimes a complex task. The aim of this article is not so much to explore the concept of relevance in itself, but rather to scrutinize some implications of this idea for the sociological empirical investigation. [Publisher's text].