A Tale of Two Cultures: Qualitative and Quantitative Research in the Social Sciences

Some in the social sciences argue that the same logic applies to both qualitative and quantitative methods. In 'A Tale of Two Cultures', Gary Goertz and James Mahoney find that these two paradigms constitute different cultures, each internally coherent yet marked by contrasting norms, practices, and toolkits. They identify and discuss major differences between these two traditions that touch nearly every aspect of social science research, including design, goals, causal effects and models, concepts and measurement, data analysis, and case selection.