Sudhir KumarAIR 42 · CSE 2017 · 287 wordsTheir whole copy
Opening · a definition
In sociological research, combining different methods is referred to as 'methodological pluralism'. Mostly, researchers rely on one of the methods, but they use pluralism to validate their findings.
There are 3 approaches to pluralism as outlined by Martyn -
Body · points and prose
i) Triangulation ii) Facilitation iii) complimentarity
i) Triangulation: Quantitative and qualitative research methods are used to cross check the finding produced by other methods.
ii) Facilitation: Using one research method to assist the other. e.g. Participant observation or case study can be used to generate a hypothesis, which can be used to develop a questionnaire.
iii) complimentarity: To being different aspects of investigation. e.g. like Questionnaire can develop data and using focus groups, a meaning can be made out of this data.
Methodological pluralism can rid sociology of polarity of reliability and validity. As Bryman points out a) Increases confidence in research. b) Quantitative methods can help find a pattern, qualitative can make sense out of it. c) Sometimes, research throws unexpected results. Thus pluralism required to explain those findings. d) To fill gaps - Like ethnographers combine participant observation with interview. e) Division of labour in sociological research. f) Move towards value neutrality and establishing sociology as science.
Close · a way forward
However, Bryman believes that it is not a panacea that can solve all research problems. Multi-strategy research, despite its advantages, suffer from some shortcomings as research relying on single method. Thus, there is need to cautiously select a mix of approaches. Phenomenalists say that no methodology can explain social actions. Thus pluralism must only be used by experienced people who are aware of shortcomings of various methods and know how to club them to hide deficiency of each method. The ultimate goal must be to maintain reliability and validity.