ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses six methodological approaches: qualitative, quantitative, historical, arts-based, participatory, and mixed methods. Most scholars interested in studying theatre audiences emerge from graduate programs that might offer coursework in historiographic, qualitative, and/or action research methods; few theatre and performance studies scholars receive comprehensive training in quantitative or mixed methods approaches. The criteria methodologies employ may seem distinct; for example, quantitative research should demonstrative validity and reliability, while qualitative research should demonstrate credibility and trustworthiness. Quantitative methodologies align with the postpositivist paradigm which holds that hypotheses should be posed and tested. Historical methodologies can also align with the transformative paradigm when scholars share historical/historiographical knowledge to contextualize long-standing inequities as impetuses for social change. Mixed methods methodology often aligns with the pragmatic paradigm, which “holds no allegiance to a particular set of rules or theories but rather suggests that different tools may be useful in different research contexts”.
