Challenging the Qualitative-Quantitative Divide Explorations in Case-focused Causal Analysis

This book challenges the divide between qualitative and quantitative approaches that is now institutionalized within social science. Rather than suggesting the 'mixing' of methods, Challenging the Qualitative-Quantitative Divide provides a thorough interrogation of the arguments and practices characteristic of both sides of the divide, focusing on how well they address the common problems that all social research faces, particularly as regards causal analysis. The authors identify some fundamental weaknesses in both quantitative and qualitative approaches, and explore whether case-focused analysis - for instance, in the form of Qualitative Comparative Analysis, Analytic Induction, Grounded Theorising, or Cluster Analysis - can bridge the gap between the two sides.

Introduction \ Part I: Problems with Quantitative and Qualitative Research \ 1. What's Wrong with Quantitative Research? \ 2. Quantitative Research on Meritocracy: The Problem of Inference from Outcomes to Opportunities \ 3. Qualitative Causal Analysis: Grounded Theorising and the Qualitative Survey \ 4. Qualitative Research and the Fallacies of Composition and Division: The Case of Ethnic Inequalities in Educational Achievement \ Part II: Exploring Case-Focused Approaches to Causal Analysis \ 5. Set Theoretic versus Correlational Methods: the Case of Ability and Educational Achievement \ 6. Creating Typologies: Comparing Fuzzy Qualitative Comparative Analysis with Fuzzy Cluster Analysis \ 7. Analytic Induction versus Qualitative Comparative Analysis \ Conclusion \ References \ Index