Unit 2 Combined Quantitative & Qualitative Research for Problem Solving

Combining Qualitative and Qualitative Methods
WilliamsonChp2.pdf page 34, 36, 37

No Agreement on whether should be combined or not

 - con: methods favored by each cannot be easily combined
 - pro: use of different kinds of thinking make a full understanding more likely
 - great care needs to be taken
 - separate and distinct, with different purposes, methods and outcomes


Deductive - Positivist = quantitative
Inductive - interpretivist = qualitative (naturalistic inquiry, constructivism and phenomenology)

many researchers feel combined approaches are acceptable and even desirable.

Design should be matched to the questions to be investigated.
Triangulation popular approach enables checking of findings by different collection methods.

• methods triangulation - check consistency of findings using different data collection methods, all one or all the other or mixture of the two
• source triangulation - conclusions likely to be more reliable if collected by more than one method and perspective of more than one source. take advantage of strength and weakness of each.