1 - Motivations for Mixed Method Social Research

Summary

High-quality data collection is fundamental to the advancement of knowledge in the social sciences. Yet, advances in techniques for data analysis in the past half-century have far outpaced advances in data collection methods. This is likely to change in the coming decades, as new technologies and strategies bring the social sciences to the brink of a revolution in data collection methods. Some of the seeds of that revolution lay in mixed method data collection approaches. This book is devoted to recent innovations in mixed method strategies for collecting social science data

The three main goals of this book are: (1) to demonstrate that by combining multiple methods it is possible to elicit important new insights into the causes and consequences of beliefs and behavior; (2) to provide concrete, operational examples of mixed method data collection techniques so that those interested in using these methods have a clear starting point; and (3) to highlight state-of-the-art developments in these data collection strategies, identifying a set of common principles that underlie them with the aim of stimulating continued methodological innovation in this area.

Mixed method data collection strategies are those that are explicitly designed to combine elements of one method, such as structured survey interviews, with elements of other methods, such as unstructured interviews, observations, or focus groups in either a sequential or a simultaneous manner (Axinn, Fricke, and Thornton 1991; Edin 1999; Fricke 1997; Kertzer 1997; Kertzer and Fricke 1997; Pearce 2002; Sieber 1973).