A Tale of Two Cultures: Contrasting Quantitative and Qualitative Research | Zendy

James Mahoney | Zendy; Gary Goertz | Zendy

AI Assistant Blog Pricing

Home ZAIA Blog

Open Access

A Tale of Two Cultures: Contrasting Quantitative and Qualitative Research

Author(s) -

James Mahoney,

Gary Goertz

Publication year - 2006

Publication title -

political analysis

Language(s) - English

Resource type - Journals

SCImago Journal Rank - 3.953

H-Index - 69

eISSN - 1476-4989

pISSN - 1047-1987

DOI - 10.1093/pan/mpj017

Subject(s) - equifinality , causation , epistemology , metaphor , generalization , scope (computer science) , selection (genetic algorithm) , sociology , politics , social science , political science , ecology , biology , philosophy , computer science , linguistics , artificial intelligence , law , programming language

The quantitative and qualitative research traditions can be thought of as distinct cultures marked by different values, beliefs, and norms. In this essay, we adopt this metaphor toward the end of contrasting these research traditions across 10 areas: (1) approaches to explanation, (2) conceptions of causation, (3) multivariate explanations, (4) equifinality, (5) scope and causal generalization, (6) case selection, (7) weighting observations, (8) substantively important cases, (9) lack of fit, and (10) concepts and measurement. We suggest that an appreciation of the alternative assumptions and goals of the traditions can help scholars avoid misunderstandings and contribute to more productive “cross-cultural” communication in political science.

The content you want is available to Zendy users.

Already have an account? Click here to sign in.

Having issues? You can contact us here

Accelerating Research