Mixed and Merged Methods: Toward a Methodological Pluralism

About

From the 1990s Mixed Methods Research (the integration of “qualitative and quantitative approaches or methods in a single study or a program of inquiry” - Tashakkori and Creswell 2007: 4) is a well-known and established field but it also remains a hot topic in contemporary social science. However, it is not a novelty in the methodological landscape.

The course will give an overview about current debates and the key issues in the field. Firstly, an alternative classification (of the main methodologies currently used in social sciences) will be proposed, aiming to overcome the outdated dichotomy qualitative-quantitative. Then, the conventional quantitative language of social research (shaped by terms such as 'measurement', 'hypothesis', ‘indicators’, ‘variable', ‘sampling’, ‘generalization’, ‘validitiy’ and so on) will be revisited in the light of a new epistemological framework, adding new meanings/concepts (to these positivistic terms) compatible also with qualitative approaches

Course leader

Professor Dr. Giampietro Gobo, Department of Philosophy, University of Milan, Italy

Target group

PhD students, graduate or postgraduate student or professional from any social science field of study or related disciplines.

Since the focus of the course is not on qualitative and quantitative methods itself, it is expected that course participants have at least basic knowledge about qualitative and quantitative research methods.

Course aim

Course participants will acquire skills and competencies in order to design a fully mixed methods study and develop an appropriate strategy to answer specific research questions.

During the course, participants (if they wish) will have the chance to share own ideas and plans regarding a mixed methods design (e.g. a PhD project, a fieldwork problem and so on) and receive comments, suggestions and advice emerging from the collective debate.

Fee info