June 2024

Volume 07 Issue 06 June 2024
Do We Need Mixed Methods Designs in Social Science Research?
Verónica González-List
Doctora en Ciencias Políticas y Sociales de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
DOI : https://doi.org/10.47191/ijsshr/v7-i06-112

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ABSTRACT

The objective of this article is to reflect on the need for mixed methods designs in the social sciences. I propose to theorize seeking to answer the question of whether it is possible to use grounded theory with mixed designs, based on some publications about these methods in this multidisciplinary field. My working hypothesis is that grounded theory cannot be applied with these methods, for two reasons: first, because grounded theory is aimed at generating an understanding of the way in which the members of the studied community understand their interactions, and a theoretical or conceptual paradigm, or a set of them, would superimpose pre-established notions that would prevent observing the communicative exchanges of the participants from the communicative notion of themselves. And the second, related to this, arises from what Forni and De Grande (2020) say that inductive methods are not compatible with mixed methods, which I find logical, because inductive methods are aimed at constructing knowledge from of the empirical manifestation of the phenomenon studied, and it would not be possible to reach knowledge from that reality, if it is looked at through a theoretical or conceptual paradigm. If my suspicions are confirmed, my answer regarding the need for mixed designs in the social sciences would be: as long as it seeks to understand the universe with deductive reasoning. We'll see.

KEYWORDS:

Mixed designs, inductive reasoning, triangulation method, mixed method, grounded theory.

REFERENCES
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6) Mendizábal, N. (2018). La osadía en la investigación: el uso de los Métodos Mixtos en las ciencias sociales. Espacio Abierto, 27(2), 5-20. https://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=12260698001

7) Tello, C. (2011). El objeto de estudio en ciencias sociales: entre la pregunta y la hipótesis. Cinta de Moebio. Revista de Epistemología de Ciencias Sociales, 42, 225-242. https://doi.org/10.4067/S0717-554X2011000300001
Volume 07 Issue 06 June 2024

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