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.

Barry Cooper is Emeritus Professor of Education at Durham University, UK. From 2004-07, he was co-editor of the British Educational Research Journal. Judith Glaesser is Lecturer in the School of Education at Durham University, UK. Roger Gomm, now retired, was Lecturer in Health and Welfare at the Open University, UK. He has a long experience of ethnographic research in both the UK and internationally, and of bespoke evaluation research. Martyn Hammersley is Professor of Educational and Social Research in the Centre for Childhood, Development and Learning at the Open University, UK.