Mixed Methods: Innovative Method Development
What happens when a research question is analyzed using a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods—both traditional and innovative—as well as a wide variety of empirical materials? And how does this work in practice?
What becomes of issues like level of detail and comprehensive perspective? These are some of the questions addressed by the projects within RJ’s initiative Mixed Methods: Innovative Method Development in the humanities and social sciences.
The background to this initiative lies in the development of digital technology and how research in the humanities and social sciences is therefore facing a range of new challenges and opportunities. The challenges for research are both methodological and related to the philosophy of science.
The amount and accessibility of digital information is growing. Both the possibilities and limitations of current standard methods are being highlighted as new methods emerge for analyzing texts, images, and sounds more extensively, rapidly, and precisely. This shift also imposes new demands on technical competence, infrastructures for storage and accessibility, as well as on collaborations across disciplinary and national borders.
As a result of this digital transformation, new combinations of qualitative and quantitative methods are being developed, along with a more holistic understanding of societal phenomena. Even traditional perspectives in the humanities and social sciences benefit from this methodological development.