This paper is intended to explore modes of inquiry into culture and public discourse. To this end, the first part of the paper is devoted to situating discourses and practices within a broad notion of culture, a notion which goes beyond the cultural turn and focuses on culture in action, as well as on the dynamic dialogue between structure and action. In order to advance in a methodological proposal, the paper examines four different studies that propose differentiated strategies for making the concept of culture operational.