In this paper I strive for overcoming the burden of the incompatibility thesis between qualitative and quantitative research a I call for a third generation in mixed method design, theory, and research. I will, first, outline the presumed differences between QL and QN methods; second, review briefly how mixed methods researchers have attempted to deal with these differences; third, critically assess and subsequently reject the tenability of these differences; and, fourth, propose steps toward a third generation of mixed methods literature and practices. Ultimately, I will argue that contemporary mixed methods design, research, and theory currently lack a good grounding and that an alternative grounding will not only improve the justification for mixed methods research, but it will also broaden its scope and improve its practice.
The paper aims at presenting the philosophy of pragmatism as an epistemological framework for mixed methods research. The author starts with brief characteristics of this relatively recent approach to research in the social sciences and uses Morgan’s clarification of the genesis of „metaphysical“ paradigm for qualitative research as a platform for analysing the main reasons why mixed methods research has been strongly criticized and refused. Then she shifts her attention to classical pragmatists – W. James, J. Dewey and Ch. S. Pierce, and makes an attempt to show mixed methods research as a legitimate approach to research in the social sciences having equally important status as quantitative or qualitative research. In order to prove her point, the author gives a detailed analysis of the pragmatists’ theory of inquiry, their understanding of truth, experience and other philosophical categories. She concludes that mixed methods research has great potential to solve research questions whose solution proves impossible for rigid advocates of either of the two currently dominant approaches.
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