On Exceeding of Division for Qualitative and Quantitative Researches in Contemporary Scientific Methodology Cover Image

On Exceeding of Division for Qualitative and Quantitative Researches in Contemporary Scientific Methodology
On Exceeding of Division for Qualitative and Quantitative Researches in Contemporary Scientific Methodology

Author(s): Uroš V. Šuvaković
Subject(s): Recent History (1900 till today), Government/Political systems, Methodology and research technology, 18th Century
Published by: Институт за политичке студије
Keywords: qualitative and quantitative researches; exceeding of division; interconnection; new typology;

Summary/Abstract: Argumentation in favor of the attitude on exceeding the long ago established division of scientific researches to qualitative and quantitative is discussed in the work. Considering the attitude of materialistic dialecticians that every scientific research must deal with a subject, the attitude is represented according to which it is impossible to perform any quantitative research without prior establishing the quality that is being investigated. Since nothing cannot be investigated, but always only something, it means that it is necessary to establish precisely (to define) the quality that is being researched and to do this it is necessary to perform an adequate research. This is valid for all researches, including measuring, for which it is considered in the literature that these are only quantitative researches. It is shown on the example of designing two instruments for measuring successfulness of political parties – the scale and the quotient of party successfulness and the Bogardus`s scale of social distance On the other hand, even the expressively qualitative research methods (e.g. qualitative content analysis, case study, method of biography, etc.) as the rule comprehend certain quantifications. Aiming to methodological correctness, it would be the most accurately to consider as surpassed the existing dichotomy to qualitative and quantitative research, and to establish typology of scientific researches to qualitative-quantitative (prevailing element is qualitative) and quantitative-qualitative (prevailing element is quantitative) researches, depending on which element in the research is more dominant, with clear establishment of their interconnection.

  • Issue Year: 2011
  • Issue No: 4
  • Page Range: 395-420
  • Page Count: 26
  • Language: English