Conclusion

This book concludes by reemphasizing important differences in the nature of qualitative and quantitative research—differences that extend across research design, data analysis, and causal inference. While their differences are considerable, the book argues that both research cultures can complement one another in terms of explaining the social and political world. However, a fruitful collaboration between quantitative and qualitative research—one built around mutual respect and appreciation—is possible only if scholars of both traditions understand and acknowledge their differences. These differences, summarized in tables, come in the areas of individual cases, causality and causal models, populations and data, concepts and measurement, and asymmetry. The book also contends that mixing the qualitative and quantitative cultures will contribute to methodological pluralism in the social sciences.