Introduction

The chief focus of this book is the debate about quantitative and qualitative research in the social sciences, in particular the relative merits and disadvantages of these two styles of inquiry. This is a controversy in which philosophical issues tend to be interwoven with discussions about the nature and capacities of different methods of research. Quantitative research is typically taken to be exemplified by the social survey and by experimental investigations. Qualitative research tends to be associated with participant observation and unstructured, in-depth interviewing. On the face of it, questions relating to the advantages and capacities of these two approaches and their associated techniques would seem to be technical ones, pertaining to their respective strengths and weaknesses in relation to particular research topics. In fact, philosophical issues figure very strongly and have much to do with a growing interest in the methods associated with a qualitative style of inquiry.