Quantitative and Qualitative Research: Beyond the Debate

Psychology has been a highly quantitative field since its conception as a science. However, a qualitative approach to psychological research has gained increasing importance in the last decades, and an enduring debate between quantitative and qualitative approaches has arisen. The recently developed Mixed Methods Research (MMR) addresses this debate by aiming to integrate quantitative and qualitative approaches. This article outlines and discusses quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods research approaches with specific reference to their (1) philosophical foundations (i.e. basic sets of beliefs that ground inquiry), (2) methodological assumptions (i.e. principles and formal conditions which guide scientific investigation), and (3) research methods (i.e. concrete procedures for data collection, analysis and interpretation). We conclude that MMR may reasonably overcome the limitation of purely quantitative and purely qualitative approaches at each of these levels, providing a fruitful context for a more comprehensive psychological research.

Omar GeloEmail:

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Dr. Omar Gelo   is Assistant Professor in the department of Psychotherapeutic Sciences and Co-coordinator of the Doctoral Program in Psychotherapeutic Sciences for foreign students at Sigmund Freud University, Vienna. His research interests in the field of psychotherapy research concern the therapeutic process, with particular relevance of metaphorical language, emotional-cognitive regulation, and the application of dynamic systems theory to the study of psychotherapy. He is moreover interested in linking process and outcome in different psychotherapeutic orientations. Dr. Diana Braakmann   is Assistant Professor in the department of Psychotherapeutic Sciences at Sigmund Freud University, Vienna. She is psychologist and behaviour therapist with a specific training in dialectic behaviour therapy. Her psychotherapeutic work during the last years was concentrated on treating Borderline Personality Disorder and Posttraumatic Stress Disease. Her research interests focus on the phenomenon of dissociation as well as the connection between process and outcome variables in psychotherapy. Prof. Gerhard Benetka   studied psychology, history, sociology, and philosophy at the University of Vienna, obtaining his Master degree in Psychology in 1989, PhD in Psychology in 1994, and habilitation of Psychology in 1998 at the University of Vienna. He is now Prof. of Psychology and Head of Institute of Psychology at the Sigmund Freud University, Vienna. His research interests focus on history of psychology and psychoanalysis.