ABSTRACT
A variety of activities central to the conduct of all types of social science can be described as data reduction. The primary direction of recent change in the technical means of data reduction is the increased use of microcomputers in both quantitative and qualitative social research. Data reduction using a microcomputer and data reduction using a mainframe computer contrast sharply. The microcomputer is having a powerful impact on sociological research primarily because it provides a new way for ideas and data to interact. The microcomputer, by contrast, makes a measure of reintegration possible. Use of the microcomputer as an instrument of data reduction, however, requires a limited degree of separation. Thus, the microcomputer provides important technical means for new kinds of dialogues between ideas and evidence and, at the same time, provides a common technical ground for the meeting of qualitative and quantitative researchers.
