Earlier, we considered the philosophical foundations of research. These included questions of ontology—what we believe exists and what the social world is like—and epistemology—what we believe we can know about that world and how we can know it.
These philosophical positions matter because they influence the kinds of questions researchers ask, the evidence they consider useful, and the methods they use to collect and analyse that evidence.
A researcher working from a positivist position may assume that social phenomena can be observed, measured, compared, and used to identify regular patterns or relationships. This often leads towards quantitative research, in which concepts are translated into variables and examined using numerical data.
A researcher working from an interpretivist position may instead be interested in how individuals understand events, construct meanings, or interpret their experiences. This more commonly leads towards qualitative research, using evidence such as interviews, texts, observations, speeches, or documents.
The relationship between philosophy and method is not fixed. Quantitative research is often associated with positivism, while qualitative research is often associated with interpretivism, but these are tendencies rather than rules. The same method can be used within different philosophical approaches. What matters is that the methods chosen are appropriate for the research question and fit the researcher’s broader assumptions about knowledge and evidence.
This becomes especially clear with mixed methods research, which combines quantitative and qualitative methods within the same study. For example, a researcher might use quantitative data to identify a pattern and then use interviews or documents to investigate why that pattern exists. Alternatively, qualitative research might first identify an interesting pattern or explanation, which can then be examined quantitatively across a larger number of cases.
Mixed methods research therefore draws on the different strengths of quantitative and qualitative research. Rather than treating them as competing approaches, it uses them together when different kinds of evidence are needed to answer the research question.
Quantitative research
Quantitative research examines phenomena using numerical data and systematic measurement. It generally involves identifying concepts that can be measured, translating these into variables, and examining patterns or relationships between them. Quantitative research may use surveys, existing datasets, experiments, structured observations, or coded information from documents and other sources.
Quantitative research is often associated with positivist approaches, particularly where the aim is to identify regularities, test hypotheses, compare cases, or examine possible causal relationships. For example, a researcher might examine whether democracies are less likely to fight one another, whether economic dependence affects the likelihood of conflict, or whether public attitudes towards an alliance vary according to age, education, or political orientation. However, quantitative methods are not limited to positivist research and can be used within a range of research designs.
Strengths of quantitative research
Comparison: Numerical measures make it easier to compare individuals, states, organisations, events, or periods of time in a consistent way.
Identifying patterns: Large datasets can reveal trends and relationships that may be difficult to observe from individual cases.
Testing hypotheses: Quantitative methods allow researchers to examine whether the relationships predicted by theory are supported by the available evidence.
Generalisation: Where cases or respondents are appropriately selected, findings may provide conclusions that extend beyond the particular cases studied.
Replicability: Clearly defined variables and procedures can make it easier for other researchers to repeat the study and assess its findings.
Precision: Quantitative research can provide precise estimates of the size, frequency, or strength of a phenomenon or relationship.
Weaknesses of quantitative research
Measurement problems: Many important concepts in the social sciences—such as power, identity, influence, trust, or diplomatic effectiveness—are difficult to reduce to numerical measures.
Loss of context: Converting complex phenomena into variables can remove important historical, political, cultural, or social context.
Data limitations: Researchers are restricted by the quality and availability of data. Existing datasets may measure something differently from what the researcher actually wants to study.
Correlation and causation: Finding that two variables are related does not necessarily demonstrate that one causes the other.
Limited attention to meaning: Numerical data may show what is happening without explaining how participants understand it or why it is happening.
False precision: Numbers can give an impression of certainty even when the concepts, measurements, or assumptions behind them remain uncertain.
The central challenge in quantitative research is ensuring that the numbers provide a meaningful measure of the phenomenon the researcher actually wants to understand.
Qualitative research
Qualitative research examines phenomena through non-numerical forms of evidence, with particular attention to meaning, experience, context, and process. Rather than translating concepts into numerical variables, it generally seeks to understand how people interpret the world, how events develop, and how social and political processes operate. Qualitative research may use interviews, focus groups, observations, documents, speeches, archival materials, media reports, or other forms of textual and visual evidence.
Qualitative research is often associated with interpretivist approaches, particularly where the aim is to understand meanings, identities, beliefs, experiences, or social practices. For example, a researcher might examine how diplomats understand their professional role, how political leaders construct ideas of national identity, or how different actors interpret the meaning of an alliance. However, qualitative methods can also be used to investigate causal processes, develop or test theories, and explain why particular outcomes occur.
Strengths of qualitative research
Depth: Qualitative research can provide detailed understanding of complex events, experiences, ideas, and processes.
Context: It allows researchers to examine phenomena within their historical, political, social, or cultural setting.
Meaning: Qualitative methods are particularly useful for understanding how individuals and groups interpret events and understand the world around them.
Process: Detailed evidence can help researchers trace how and why events unfold over time.
Flexibility: Research designs can respond to unexpected findings and pursue new questions that emerge during the research.
Theory development: Close examination of cases can reveal new concepts, relationships, and explanations that may not have been anticipated at the beginning of the research.
Weaknesses of qualitative research
Limited generalisation: Findings based on a small number of cases or participants may not apply to a wider population or other situations.
Researcher interpretation: The collection and interpretation of qualitative evidence can be influenced by the researcher’s assumptions, choices, and perspectives.
Replicability: Because interpretation and context are important, it can be difficult for another researcher to reproduce exactly the same study and findings.
Comparison: Detailed and context-specific evidence can make systematic comparison across large numbers of cases difficult.
Time and resources: Interviews, archival research, transcription, coding, and detailed textual analysis can require considerable time and effort.
Volume of evidence: Qualitative research can produce large amounts of complex material, requiring researchers to make careful decisions about what evidence is relevant and how it should be interpreted.
The central challenge in qualitative research is ensuring that the interpretation of evidence is systematic, transparent, and well supported. The flexibility and depth of qualitative research are major strengths, but researchers must be able to demonstrate how they moved from the evidence they collected to the conclusions they reached.
Mixed methods research
Mixed methods research combines quantitative and qualitative approaches within the same study. The aim is to use different forms of evidence to examine different aspects of a research problem or to provide a more complete understanding than either approach could provide alone. For example, a researcher might use survey data to identify patterns in public attitudes towards an alliance and then conduct interviews to understand why respondents hold those views.
Mixed methods research is often associated with pragmatism, which places greater emphasis on choosing methods that are appropriate for answering the research question than on following a single philosophical tradition. Quantitative and qualitative methods can be used at different stages of a project or alongside one another. For example, qualitative interviews might first identify important themes that are then examined through a larger survey. Alternatively, quantitative analysis might reveal an unexpected pattern that qualitative research is then used to explain.
Strengths of mixed methods research
Breadth and depth: Quantitative research can identify broad patterns, while qualitative research can provide a deeper understanding of those patterns.
Different questions: Different methods can address different parts of the same research problem, such as what is happening, how widespread it is, and why it occurs.
Triangulation: Findings from different forms of evidence can be compared to determine whether they support similar conclusions.
Explanation: Qualitative evidence can help explain relationships or patterns identified through quantitative analysis.
Exploration: Qualitative research can identify concepts or relationships that can subsequently be examined quantitatively.
Complementarity: The strengths of one method can sometimes compensate for the limitations of another.
Weaknesses of mixed methods research
Complexity: Combining different approaches requires researchers to understand and apply more than one set of research methods.
Time and resources: Collecting and analysing both quantitative and qualitative evidence can require considerably more time and effort.
Integration: Simply including both numbers and qualitative evidence does not necessarily produce good mixed methods research. Researchers must explain how the different forms of evidence relate to one another.
Different findings: Quantitative and qualitative evidence may produce different or even contradictory conclusions, which the researcher must then explain.
Research skills: Researchers may be more experienced with one approach than another, resulting in an imbalance in the quality of the different parts of the study.
Philosophical consistency: Combining approaches can raise questions about whether the assumptions underlying different methods are compatible within the overall research design.
The central challenge in mixed methods research is time--it’s basically twice as much work. It is not enough simply to conduct some quantitative research and some qualitative research. The researcher must demonstrate why both are needed, how they relate to one another, and how combining them provides a better answer to the research question.
The guided academic paper - research method
You should now decide whether your guided academic paper will use a quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods approach. Begin with your research question and consider what kind of evidence you need to answer it. Your choice should also be consistent with your research purpose and philosophical approach.
Record in your research diary a short entry that:
identifies your proposed methodological approach;
explains why it is appropriate for your research question;
connects it to your philosophical approach;
identifies the types of evidence you expect to use; and
notes any important strengths or limitations.
Your choice is provisional. You may revise it as your research question develops and you learn more about the available evidence and methods.
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