Generalizability

Luker discusses in Chapter 6 the importance of generalizability in research. This has a lot to do with sampling. You have to be able to convince your audience that your research is not just a specific case but can be applied to similar scenarios. Luker said that most of her research was conducted in California which is considered to be atypical. To counter these assumptions, Luker did several observations or interviews outside of California. I am wondering if my research on the Toronto Public Library System is generalizable to other library systems. Can it be considered an example of Canadian library systems? This is something that I will need to grapple with in order to produce successful research. I need to find a way to make it useful for other circumstances. In the same way, for my literature review, I am taking researchers' work and generalizing it to my research in Toronto.