Mixed methods studies in social sciences are predominantly employed to explore broad, complex, and multifaceted issues and to evaluate policies and interventions. The integration of qualitative and quantitative methods in social sciences most often follows the Peircean pragmatic approach--abductive hypothesis formation followed by deductive and…

Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) is a relatively young method of causal inference that continues to diffuse across the social sciences. However, recent methodological research has found the conservative (QCA-CS) and the intermediate solution type (QCA-IS) of QCA to fail fundamental tests of correctness. Even under conditions otherwise ideal…

Social research is rich in methods for analysing societal differences. Yet, although qualitative characteristics are a key component to understanding such differences, the analysis of qualitative data remains a major methodological challenge in most social research, particularly when aiming to compare more than a few cases. The article proposes an…

Thirty years after the demise of the Soviet bloc, there still persists a rhetoric of differentiation and a discursive polarisation between the Western and the non-Western educational thinking and practices. This rhetoric overshadows a potential similarity, or homogeneity, between the dominant and several marginalised contexts. Regional, local and…

The aim of this chapter is to introduce a methodology that enables researchers to employ a set of systematic comparative tools and techniques in their multiple case study research that allow them to move from drawing loose comparisons towards a more formalised type of analysis, while simultaneously paying attention to within-case complexities.…

Confused students researching papers not knowing where they are going. Articles, lectures, and books on exciting topics that turn out to be boring. Such familiar phenomena are symptoms of a widespread, largely unconscious methodological habit of focusing on topics rather than problems. This habit rests on views about knowledge that are deeply…

In this paper, the writer discusses the philosophical underpinnings of the two dominant research methods in social sciences; quantitative and qualitative paradigms. The natures of two paradigms are quite different so this leads many researchers to discuss these issues in a comparative way. This paper tackles the knowledge and understanding of…

This article describes why measurement invariance is a critical issue to quantitative theory building within the field of human resource development. Readers will learn what measurement invariance is and how to test for its presence using techniques that are accessible to applied researchers. Using data from a LibQUAL+[TM] study of user…

This article presents a discussion of mixed methods (MM) sampling techniques. MM sampling involves combining well-established qualitative and quantitative techniques in creative ways to answer research questions posed by MM research designs. Several issues germane to MM sampling are presented including the differences between probability and…

The goal of this article is to frame some new directions to social comparison research in organizational settings. Four themes are developed. First, we examine the role of organizational variables in shaping the basic sub processes in social comparison, such as the selection of referents. The second theme focuses on the meaning of level of…

Single studies, by themselves, rarely explain the effect of treatments or interventions definitively in the social sciences. Researchers created meta-analysis in the 1970s to address this need. Since then, meta-analytic techniques have been used to support certain treatment modalities and to influence policymakers. Although these techniques…

Examines the "Ladies' Home Journal" and two popular consumer magazines that target blacks to determine the proportions of food and beverage advertisements, nutrition advertisements and their promotional messages, and the health implications they reveal. Findings reveal these magazines had a significantly higher number of alcohol ads,…

A survey shows that, although no occupational group tested so far approves of all of the proposed laws protecting children, the most accepting were the people who professionally work most closely with children; the least accepting were lawmakers. (RM)

Articles in this special issue discuss the utilization of social research by governmental commissions. How social science knowledge influences their decision making is examined. (RM)

Examines the attitudes and preferences of African American college students toward physical characteristics, social status, and related variables regarding dating and future mate selection. Findings mostly confirmed that females would differ from males on social status variables (willing to date persons from lower social status), and males would…