ABSTRACT
Qualitative research methods originated in the social and behavioural sciences: sociology, anthropology and psychology. Today, qualitative methods are widely used, including in the field of marketing research. There are many methods within this broad category, including in-depth interviews with individuals and group discussions, diary and journal exercises and in-context observations. This chapter will explore some recent debates around the value and desirability of qualitative and quantitative methods as well as the increasing tendency towards mixed methods. Three debates have been taken as entry points for discussion of five widely used qualitative methods of social sciences: the constructivist challenge had a major impact on ethnography and narrative methods, the controversy over and within mixed method schools involved much debate around grounded theory and feminist methodology, which has oscillated between extreme scepticism about its own possibility and enormously rich discussions about ethics and reflexivity – each has included methods such as interview and focus group discussion. The chapter will show that, in terms of methodology, the current tendency is more towards a pragmatic centre after rather extreme swings between opposite poles.
