ABSTRACT
Many have questioned whether the contrast between qualitative and quantitative research is a particularly constructive one, arguing that the best research in social science contains elements of both. A core feature of qualitative research methods is that satisfactory explanations of social activities require a substantial appreciation of the perspectives, culture and 'world-views' of the actors involved. Qualitative approaches require quite a different personal stance from the detached, rather dry approach often associated with more quantitative methods. Ethnographic fieldwork requires that the researcher be politically aware and sensitive to the impression she or he is making on others. In surveys what goes on in one interview will usually not have repercussions on the relationship the researcher develops with other respondents. In ethnographic work, the opposite is true. Ethnographic work also requires novel recording skills. Data from interviews is comparatively easy to record either in written form or else on tape.
