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On Becoming a Pragmatic Researcher:

The Importance of Combining
Quantitative and Qualitative Research
Methodologies
Anthony J. Onwuegbuzie & Nancy L. Leech
Published online: 23 Feb 2007.

To cite this article: Anthony J. Onwuegbuzie & Nancy L. Leech (2005) On Becoming a
Pragmatic Researcher: The Importance of Combining Quantitative and Qualitative Research
Methodologies, International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 8:5, 375-387, DOI:
10.1080/13645570500402447

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 Int. J. Social Research Methodology
Vol. 8, No. 5, Month 2005, pp. 375–387

On Becoming a Pragmatic Researcher:

The Importance of Combining
Quantitative and Qualitative Research
Methodologies
Downloaded by [University Library Utrecht] at 01:47 23 July 2013

Anthony J. Onwuegbuzie & Nancy L. Leech

Received 25 September 2002; Accepted 11 January 2005

Taylor and Francis Ltd
TSRM_A_140227.sgm

The last 100 years have witnessed a fervent debate in the USA about quantitative and qual-
International
10.1080/13645570500402447
1364-5579
Original
Taylor
8502005
Department
AnthonyOnwuegbuzie
[email protected]
000002005
&Article
Francis
(print)/1464-5300
ofJournal
Educational
of Social
Measurement
(online)
Research Methodology
and Research, College of EducationUniversity of South Florida4202 East Fowler Avenue, EDU 162TampaFL 33620-7750USA

itative research paradigms. Unfortunately, this has led to a great divide between quantita-
tive and qualitative researchers, who often view themselves as in competition with each
other. Clearly, this polarization has promoted purists, namely, researchers who restrict
themselves exclusively either to quantitative or to qualitative research methods. Mono-
method research is the biggest threat to the advancement of the social sciences. Indeed, as
long as we stay polarized in research, how can we expect stakeholders who rely on our
research findings to take our work seriously? Thus, the purpose of this paper is to explore
how the debate between quantitative and qualitative is divisive and, hence, counterproduc-
tive for advancing the social and behavioural science field. This paper advocates that all
graduate students learn to utilize and to appreciate both quantitative and qualitative
research. In so doing, students will develop into what we term as pragmatic researchers.

Introduction
Throughout the 20th century, social and behavioural science researchers in the USA
have witnessed a great divide between two opposing camps of researchers. Specifically,
these camps have comprised positivists on one side and interpretivists on the other
side. Interestingly, as noted by Sechrest and Sidani (1995), it is only in the social and

Anthony J. Onwuegbuzie is based at the University of South Florida. Nancy L. Leech is based at the University of
Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center. Correspondence to: Anthony J. Onwuegbuzie, Department of
Educational Measurement and Research, College of Education, University of South Florida, 4202 East Fowler
Avenue, EDU 162,Tampa, FL 33620-7750, USA. Email: [email protected]

ISSN 1364–5579 (print)/ISSN 1464–5300 (online) © 2005 Taylor & Francis

DOI: 10.1080/13645570500402447
 376 A. J. Onwuegbuzie & N. L. Leech
behavioural sciences that the merits of both research paradigms are so vehemently
debated.
The quantitative versus qualitative contest has often been so divisive that many
social and behavioural science students who graduate from American educational
institutions with an aspiration to gain employment in the world of academia or
research are left with the impression that they have to pledge allegiance to one research
school of thought or the other. Even more importantly, these students are led to believe
in the Incompatibility Thesis (Howe, 1988), which posits that quantitative and qualita-
tive research paradigms and methodologies cannot and must not be mixed. Yet, there
is a general tendency among researchers to treat epistemology and method as being
synonymous (Howe, 1988, 1992). This is far from being the case, because the episte-
mology does not dictate which specific data collection and data analytical methods
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should be used by researchers. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to explore how the
debate between quantitative and qualitative is divisive and, hence, counterproductive
for advancing the social and behavioural science field. Instead, we advocate that all
graduate students learn to utilize and to appreciate both quantitative and qualitative
research. In so doing, students will develop into what we term as pragmatic researchers.

Fundamental Differences between Quantitative and Qualitative Research

Paradigms1
Proponents of both camps (i.e. purists) tend to focus on the differences between the
quantitative and qualitative philosophies rather than on the similarities. According to
purists, distinctions exist between quantitative and qualitative researchers with
respect to ontology, epistemology, axiology, rhetoric, logic, generalizations and causal
linkages (for an in-depth discussion of these differences, see, for example, Johnson &
Onwuegbuzie (2004)). As noted by Rossman and Wilson (1985), three major schools
of thought have evolved from the quantitative–qualitative paradigm wars, namely:
purists, situationalists and pragmatists. The difference between these three perspectives
relates to the extent to which each believes that quantitative and qualitative
approaches co-exist and can be combined. These three camps can be conceptualized
as lying on a continuum, with purists and pragmatists lying on opposite ends, and
situationalists lying somewhere between purists and pragmatists.
Purists posit that quantitative and qualitative methods stem from different onto-
logic, epistemologic and axiologic assumptions about the nature of research (Bryman,
1984; Collins, 1984; Tashakkori & Teddlie, 1998). Moreover, for purists, the assump-
tions associated with both paradigms are incompatible regarding how the world is
viewed and what it is important to know. Purists, such as Smith (1983) and Smith and
Heshusius (1986), contend that quantitative and qualitative approaches cannot and
should not be mixed. As such, they advocate mono-method studies. Situationalists
maintain the mono-method (paradigmatic) stance held by purists, but also contend
that both methods have value. However, they believe that certain research questions
lend themselves more to quantitative approaches, whereas other research questions are
more suitable for qualitative methods. Thus, although representing very different
 International Journal of Social Research Methodology 377
orientations, the two approaches are treated as being ‘complementary’ (Vidich &
Shapiro, 1955, p. 33).
Finally, at the other end of the continuum, pragmatists, unlike purists and situation-
alists, contend that a false dichotomy exists between quantitative and qualitative
approaches (Newman & Benz, 1998). These proponents believe that quantitative
methods are not necessarily positivist, nor are qualitative techniques necessarily
hermeneutic (Cook & Reichardt, 1979; Daft, 1983; Miller & Fredericks, 1991; Sieber,
1973). As such, pragmatists advocate integrating methods within a single study
(Creswell, 1995). Moreover, Sieber (1973) articulated that because both approaches
have inherent strengths and weaknesses, researchers should utilize the strengths of
both techniques in order to understand better social phenomena. Indeed, pragmatists
ascribe to the philosophy that the research question should drive the method(s) used,
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believing that ‘epistemological purity doesn’t get research done’ (Miles & Huberman,
1984, p. 21). In any case, researchers who ascribe to epistemological purity disregard
the fact that research methodologies are merely tools that are designed to aid our
understanding of the world.

Misconceptions Held by Purists and Situationalists

Many of the differences that are perceived to prevail between quantitative and qualita-
tive research stem from the misconceptions and mis-claims of proponents of both
camps. On the positivist side, the barriers that they have built arise from their narrow
definition of the concept of ‘science’. As noted by Onwuegbuzie (2002), positivists
claim that the essence of science is objective verification, and that their methods are
objective. However, positivists disregard the fact that many research decisions are made
throughout the research process that precede objective verification decisions. For
example, in developing instruments that yield empirical data, psychometricians select
items in an attempt to represent the content domain adequately (Onwuegbuzie &
Daniel, 2002). Yet, choosing these items represents a subjective decision at every stage
of the instrument development process. Thus, although the final version of the
instrument can lead to objective scoring, because of the subjectivity built into its
development, any interpretations of the scores yielded cannot be 100% objective.
Simply put:

SUBJECTIVITY + OBJECTIVITY = SUBJECTIVITY

Moreover, although in the natural sciences many properties of objects can be meas-
ured with near-perfect reliability, in the social sciences the vast majority of measures
yield scores that are, to some degree, unreliable. This is because constructs of interest
in the social science fields typically represent abstractions (e.g. personality, achieve-
ment, intelligence, motivation, locus of control) that must be measured indirectly
(Onwuegbuzie & Daniel, 2002). Failure to attain 100% score reliability implies meas-
urement error which, in turn, introduces subjectivity into any interpretations. For
example, the vast majority of quantitative researchers do not provide reliability
 378 A. J. Onwuegbuzie & N. L. Leech
estimates for their own data, with estimates ranging from 64.4% (Vacha-Haase, Ness,
Nillsson, & Reetz, 1999) to 86.9% (Vacha-Haase, 1998). This unsound research prac-
tice is surprising, considering that good standards for the reporting of findings call for
researchers to provide reliability estimates and standard errors for ‘each total score,
subscore, or combination of scores that is to be interpreted’ (American Educational
Research Association, American Psychological Association, & National Council on
Measurement in Education, 1999, p. 31). According to Thompson and Vacha-Haase
(2000), the lack of reporting sample-specific score reliability estimates stems, in part,
from a failure to realize that reliability is not a characteristic of an instrument, but is a
characteristic of scores. Because every sample yields a unique set of scores for a partic-
ular instrument, and because every set of scores reveals a unique score reliability coef-
ficient to a sufficient number of decimal places, it cannot be assumed that every set of
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scores will yield equal or even similar score reliability coefficients. Consistent with this
contention, several researchers (e.g. Yin & Fan, 2000) have documented examples of
score reliability estimates that have varied significantly upon different administrations
of the same instrument. Therefore, reporting findings without also delineating
the associated score reliability coefficients builds in subjectivity to subsequent
interpretations.
Similarly, the finding that ‘the average [hypothesized] power of null hypothesis
significance tests in typical studies and research literature is in the .40 to .60 range
…[with] .50 as a rough average …[indicates a] level of accuracy [that] is so low that it
could be achieved just by flipping a (unbiased) coin!’ (Schmidt & Hunter, 1997, p. 40)
suggests that ‘at least some controversies in the social and behavioral sciences may be
artifactual in nature’ (Rossi, 1997, p. 178). Thus, low power, which is characteristic of
the majority of quantitative research studies, makes the claim of complete objectivity
suspect at best. Indeed, in the social science field, at least, the techniques used by
positivists are no more inherently scientific than are the procedures utilized by
interpretivists.
Interpretivists also are not safe from criticism. In particular, their claim that multi-
ple, contradictory, but valid accounts of the same phenomenon always exist is extremely
misleading, inasmuch as it leads many qualitative researchers to adopt an ‘anything
goes’ relativist attitude, thereby not paying due attention to providing an adequate
rationale for interpretations of their data. That is, many qualitative methods of analyses
‘often remain private and unavailable for public inspection’ (Constas, 1992, p. 254).
Yet, without standards, when do we know whether what we know is trustworthy?

Similarities between Quantitative and Qualitative Research Approaches

Indubitably the most disturbing feature of the paradigm wars is the relentless focus on
the differences between the two orientations. According to Onwuegbuzie (2003,
p. 394): ‘much of the quantitative–qualitative debate has involved the practice of
polemics, which has tended to obfuscate rather than to clarify, and to divide rather than
to unite educational researchers’. Indeed, the two dominant research paradigms have
resulted in two research subcultures, ‘one professing the superiority of “deep, rich
 International Journal of Social Research Methodology 379
observational data” and the other the virtues of “hard, generalizable” survey data’
(Sieber, 1973, p. 1335). As noted by Brannen: ‘The differences which researchers feel
exist between qualitative and quantitative approaches (whether or not these distinc-
tions are logical ones) have profound effects on the focus and conduct of research
projects, especially the choice of method’ (1992, p. 5).
Yet, there are overwhelmingly more similarities between quantitative and qualita-
tive perspectives than there are differences. First and foremost, both quantitative and
qualitative procedures involve the use of observations to address research questions. As
noted by Sechrest and Sidani, both methodologies ‘describe their data, construct
explanatory arguments from their data, and speculate about why the outcomes they
observed happened as they did’ (1995, p. 78).
Not emphasized by purists is the fact that both sets of researchers use techniques that
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are relatively analogous at some level of specificity. Most researchers incorporate

safeguards into their research in order to minimize confirmation bias and other
sources of invalidity that have the potential to prevail in every research study
(Sandelowski, 1986). For example, both quantitative and qualitative researchers often
attempt to triangulate their data, using what is commonly referred to as within-method
triangulation, involving use of multiple quantitative or multiple qualitative methods
(Denzin, 1978). Indeed, a quantitative researcher might triangulate several measures of
achievement, whereas a qualitative investigator might triangulate interview data with
observational data. Further, like interpretivists, to some degree, quantitative data
analysts attempt to provide explanations of their findings (McLoughlin, 1991), as well
as seek to make interpretive, narrative conclusions pertaining to the implications of
their findings (Dzurec & Abraham, 1993).
As noted by Dzurec and Abraham (1993), meaning is not a function of the type of
data collected (i.e. quantitative vs. qualitative). Rather, meaning results from the inter-
pretation of data, whether represented by numbers or by words. Whereas quantitative
researchers utilize statistical techniques and subjective inferences to make decisions
about what their data mean in the context of an a priori theoretical or conceptual
framework, qualitative researchers use phenomenological procedures and their views
of reality to discover meaning (Dzurec & Abraham, 1993).
Both sets of researchers select and use analytical techniques that are designed to
obtain the maximal meaning from their data, and manipulate their data so that find-
ings have utility with respect to their respective views of reality (Dzurec & Abraham,
1993). Moreover, both types of inquirers attempt to explain complex relationships that
exist in the social science field. To this end, quantitative researchers utilize multivariate
techniques (Elmore & Woehlke, 1998), whereas qualitative researchers incorporate the
collection of rich, thick data into their design via prolonged engagement, persistent
observation and other strategies (Lincoln & Guba, 1985).
Additionally, both quantitative and qualitative investigators utilize techniques to
verify their data. The former incorporate a myriad of control procedures and random
sampling techniques to maximize internal and external validity, respectively, with the
latter using an array of methods for assessing the auditability or credibility of qualita-
tive research. Such techniques include triangulation, prolonged engagement, persistent
 380 A. J. Onwuegbuzie & N. L. Leech
observation, leaving an audit trail, member checking, weighting the evidence, checking
for representativeness of sources of data, checking for researcher effects, making
contrasts/comparisons, checking the meaning of outliers, using extreme cases, ruling
out spurious relations, replicating a finding, assessing rival explanations, looking for
negative evidence, obtaining feedback from informants, peer debriefing, clarifying
researcher bias and thick description (Creswell, 1998).
Interestingly, data reduction typically is an important part of the data analysis proc-
ess for both quantitative and qualitative researchers. Whereas statisticians utilize data-
reduction methods such as factor analysis and cluster analysis, interpretivists conduct
thematic analyses. Thus, factors that emerge from factor analyses or cluster analyses are
analogous to emergent themes from thematic analyses. Indeed, Onwuegbuzie (2003)
demonstrated how themes emerging from qualitative data analyses can be factor
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analysed to obtain meta-themes that subsume the original themes, thereby describing
the relationship among these themes. As an example, Nolan and Ryan (2000) asked 59
undergraduate students, comprising 29 men and 30 women, to describe their most
memorable horror film. The researchers identified the 45 most prevalent adjectives,
nouns and verbs used to describe these films. Next, they constructed a 45(word)-by-
59(person) matrix, whereby the entries in each cell indicated whether each participant
had mentioned the key word in her/his description. The investigators also developed a
59(person)-by-59(person) matrix of students that stemmed from the co-occurrence of
the words in their descriptions. These matrices revealed that women were more likely
to use words that suggested they were afraid of spiritual possession and deceitful inti-
macy, whereas men were more likely to use words that suggested fear of rural people
and locations. As stated by Ryan and Bernard, such examples make ‘abundantly clear
the value of turning qualitative data into quantitative data: Doing so can produce infor-
mation that engenders deeper interpretations of the meanings in the original corpus of
qualitative data. Just as in any mass of numbers, it is hard to see patterns in words
unless one first does some kind of data reduction’ (2000, p. 777). Similarly, with respect
to quantitative-based research, the collection, analysis and interpretation of qualitative
data can aid the interpretation of statistically significant, practically significant, clini-
cally significant and economically significant findings (Onwuegbuzie & Leech, 2004).
Additionally, the popularization of complex multivariate analyses (e.g. structural equa-
tion modelling and hierarchical linear modelling), coupled with the increased empha-
sis on generalizability theory, allows quantitative researchers to pay better attention to
context effects than previously has been the case.
As noted by Newman and Benz (1998), rather than representing bi-polar opposites,
quantitative and qualitative research represent an interactive continuum. Moreover,
the role of theory is central for both paradigms. Specifically, in qualitative research the
most common purposes are those of theory initiation and theory building, whereas in
quantitative research the most typical objectives are those of theory testing and theory
modification (Newman & Benz, 1998). Clearly, neither tradition is independent of the
other, nor can either school encompass the whole research process. Thus, both quan-
titative and qualitative research techniques are needed to gain a more complete under-
standing of phenomena (Johnson & Onwuegbuzie, 2004; Newman & Benz, 1998).
 International Journal of Social Research Methodology 381
Another way in which quantitative and qualitative research approaches are congru-
ent lies in the fact that both empirical and qualitative data are interchangeable. That is,
just as it could be contended that all data are basically qualitative (Berg, 1989), inas-
much as they represent an attempt to capture a raw experience, so it could be argued
that all data can be quantified (Sechrest & Sidani, 1995). More specifically, all data can
be binarized, a term coined by Onwuegbuzie (2003) to describe dichotomously
expressing a variable in binary form (i.e. ‘1’ vs. ‘0’). Indeed, just as experimental, quasi-
experimental and correlation research designs can incorporate the collection of
observational and interview data, so can qualitative designs include the collection of
empirical data. As aptly stated by Kaplan: ‘Quantities are of qualities, and a measured
quality has just the magnitude expressed in its measure’ (1964, p. 207). Additionally,
Onwuegbuzie illustrated how inferential statistics can be utilized in qualitative data
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analyses. According to this author, ‘this can be accomplished by treating words arising
from individuals, or observations emerging from a particular setting, as sample units
of data that represent the total number of words/observations existing from that
sample member/context’ (2003, p. 406). Onwuegbuzie argued that inferential statistics
can be used to provide more complex levels of verstehen than is presently undertaken
in qualitative research. Building on Onwuegbuzie’s work, Onwuegbuzie and Teddlie
(2003) outlined different ways of conducting mixed-method data analyses.
However, quantification should not be viewed as an end in itself, but instead as a
means of utilizing existing techniques that provide incremental validity to thematic
analyses (Weinstein & Tamur, 1978). Further, it should be stressed that mixed method
analyses are not always possible or even appropriate. Indeed, the challenge is knowing
when it is useful to count and when it is difficult or inappropriate to count (Gherardi
& Turner, 1987; Sandelowski, 2001).
As discussed above, many parallels exist between quantitative and qualitative
research. Regardless of orientation, all research in the social sciences represents an
attempt to understand human beings and the world around them. Thus, it is clear that
although, presently, certain methodologies tend to be associated with and utilized by
one particular research tradition or the other, as stated by Dzurec and Abraham: ‘the
objectives, scope, and nature of inquiry are consistent across methods and across para-
digms’ (1993, p. 75). Indeed, the purity of a research paradigm is a function of the
extent to which the researcher is prepared to conform to its underlying assumptions. If
differences exist between quantitative and qualitative researchers, these discrepancies
do not stem from different goals but because these two groups of researchers have
operationalized their strategies differently for reaching these goals (Dzurec & Abra-
ham, 1993). This suggests that methodological pluralism should be promoted. The best
way for this to occur is for as many investigators as possible to become pragmatic
researchers.

Barriers Affecting the Pragmatic Researcher Movement

The lack of epistemological ecumenism that appears to prevail in the USA in the behav-
ioural and social science field in general, and in the field of educational research in
 382 A. J. Onwuegbuzie & N. L. Leech
particular, stems from several factors. The century-long trend of doctoral students
graduating with basic competency in only one research orientation (i.e. purists) has
arisen from American graduate-level instruction in which quantitative and qualitative
research methodologies are taught as two independent and isolated fields, rather than
as parts of an holistic, interactive and unifying process. Further, graduate-level
programmes of study tend to minimize students’ exposure to quantitative and qualita-
tive content, by including no or inadequate instruction in mixed methodological tech-
niques. Other barriers include the promotion of various misleading ‘mythologies’
about the nature of quantitative and qualitative research; increasing numbers of
instructors teaching research methodology courses when they are not qualified to do
so; and an inability, unwillingness or even refusal to accept that the epistemological
purity that was popularized in previous decades no longer represents best practices
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and, moreover, may now be considered inappropriate, unreliable, invalid or

outmoded.
Many purists feel alienated by researchers with different orientations. This feeling of
alienation is exacerbated by the terminology used by writers from both disciplines. The
language used in quantitative research is particularly problematic for students. In fact,
Onwuegbuzie, DaRos and Ryan (1997) found that, for many graduate students, statis-
tics anxiety stems from the conventions of notation and terminology. These learners
find the language and structure to be unusual. Also, some students report an uneasiness
at being asked to accept certain assumptions, formulas and concepts, as is common in
statistical analyses.
Finally, as noted above, the dearth of pragmatic researchers also appears to stem
from researchers’ faulty perceptions of a one-to-one relationship between epistemol-
ogy and method. Interestingly, Snizek (1976), who analysed many published research
articles, concluded that the research techniques utilized cannot be directly extrapolated
from a knowledge of the investigator’s epistemological underpinnings and assump-
tions. More recently, Gueulette, Newgent, and Newman (1999), who analysed 339
randomly selected studies that were labelled by their authors as representing qualitative
research, found that 44.1% of these articles actually involved the blending of qualitative
and quantitative methodologies. This latter finding illustrates the existing blurred line
between quantitative and qualitative research.

Towards Methodological Pluralism

In order to become pragmatic researchers, the barriers mentioned above must be
dismantled or at least minimized. One step towards accomplishing this is to re-frame
the concept of research in the social and behavioural sciences by de-emphasizing the
terms quantitative and qualitative research and, instead, subdividing research into
exploratory and confirmatory methods (Onwuegbuzie & Teddlie, 2003). According to
Onwuegbuzie and Teddlie (2003), such a re-conceptualization unites quantitative and
qualitative data collection and data analytical procedures under the same framework.
Onwuegbuzie and Teddlie (2003) conceptualized a model in which quantitative data
analysis techniques are labelled as exploratory (e.g. descriptive statistics, exploratory
 International Journal of Social Research Methodology 383
factor analysis and cluster analysis), and exploratory qualitative data analysis involves
the traditional thematic analyses. With regard to confirmatory methods, quantitative
data-analytical techniques incorporate the assortment of inferential statistics, whereas
qualitative data-analytic methods involve confirmatory thematic analyses, in which
replication qualitative studies are conducted to assess the replicability of previous
emergent themes (i.e. research driven) or to test an extant theory (i.e. theory driven),
when appropriate (Onwuegbuzie & Teddlie, 2003).
Using Onwuegbuzie and Teddlie’s framework (Onwuegbuzie & Teddlie, 2003),
quantitative and qualitative research courses can be re-designed as courses in explor-
atory and confirmatory techniques that teach quantitative and qualitative methodol-
ogies within each course, either simultaneously or in a sequential manner. To have a
qualitative and quantitative research faculty team-teaching a course would be truly
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creative and exciting. Moreover, such courses would send a strong message to
students that both applied quantitative and qualitative research, for the most part,
have the same goal: to understand phenomena systematically and coherently. As
such, students enrolled in these courses would come to regard research as being a
collaborative undertaking. Additionally, these courses would allow students to focus
on the similarities of quantitative and qualitative research outlined above, rather than
on the differences. However, most importantly, such courses would help to develop
pragmatic researchers equipped to utilize both quantitative and qualitative
techniques.

Advantages of Being a Pragmatic Researcher

Becoming a pragmatic researcher offers a myriad of advantages for individuals. First
and foremost, it enables researchers to be flexible in their investigative techniques, as
they attempt to address a range of research questions that arise. Pragmatic researchers
also are more likely to promote collaboration among researchers, regardless of philo-
sophical orientation. Based on Newman and Benz’s (1998) conceptualization of the
role of theory in quantitative and qualitative inquiries, pragmatic researchers are more
likely to view research as an holistic endeavour that requires prolonged engagement,
persistent observation and triangulation (Lincoln & Guba, 1985).
By having a positive attitude towards both techniques, pragmatic researchers are in
a better position to use qualitative research to inform the quantitative portion of
research studies, and vice versa. For example, the inclusion of quantitative data can
help compensate for the fact that qualitative data typically cannot be generalized. Simi-
larly, the inclusion of qualitative data can help explain relationships discovered by
quantitative data.2
Pragmatic researchers also are more able to combine empirical precision with
descriptive precision (Onwuegbuzie, 2003). Also, armed with a bi-focal lens (i.e. both
quantitative and qualitative data), rather than with a single lens, pragmatic researchers
are able to zoom in to microscopic detail or to zoom out to indefinite scope (Willems &
Raush, 1969). As such, pragmatic researchers have the opportunity to combine the
macro and micro levels of a research issue.
 384 A. J. Onwuegbuzie & N. L. Leech
As noted by Madey (1982), combining quantitative and qualitative research helps to
develop a conceptual framework, to validate quantitative findings by referring to infor-
mation extracted from the qualitative phase of the study, and to construct indices from
qualitative data that can be used to analyse quantitative data. Further, because quanti-
tative research is typically motivated by the researcher’s concerns, whereas qualitative
research is often driven by a desire to capture the participant’s voice, pragmatic
researchers are able to merge these two emphases within a single investigation.
Because pragmatic researchers utilize mixed methodologies within the same
inquiry, they are able to delve further into a dataset to understand its meaning and to
use one method to verify findings from the other method. Indeed, building on
Rossman and Wilson’s work (Rossman & Wilson, 1985), Greene, Caracelli, and
Graham (1989) outlined the following five broad purposes of mixed methodological
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studies: (a) triangulation (i.e. seeking convergence and corroboration of results from
different methods studying the same phenomenon); (b) complementarity (i.e. seeking
elaboration, enhancement, illustration and clarification of the results from one method
with results from the other method); (c) development (i.e. using the results from one
method to help inform the other method); (d) initiation (i.e. discovering paradoxes
and contradictions that lead to a re-framing of the research question); and (e) expan-
sion (i.e. seeking to expand the breadth and range of inquiry by using different methods
for different inquiry components). Greene et al.’s framework, as well as those outlined
in Tashakkori and Teddlie’s book entitled Handbook of Mixed Methods in Social and
Behavioral Research (Tashakkori and Teddlie, 2003), and mixed-method works such as
those of Bryman (1988), Brannen (1992), Johnson and Onwuegbuzie (2004), and the
work currently being undertaken under the auspices of the Economic and Social
Research Council’s Research Methods Programme,3 offer potential for developing
pragmatic researchers.

Conclusions
The last 100 years have witnessed a fervent debate about quantitative and qualitative
research paradigms. Unfortunately, this has led to a great divide in the USA between
quantitative and qualitative researchers, who often view themselves as in competition
with each other. Clearly, this polarization has promoted purists, namely researchers
who restrict themselves exclusively either to quantitative or to qualitative research
methods. Yet, relying on only one type of data (i.e. number or words) is extremely
limiting. As such, mono-method research is the biggest threat to the advancement of
the social sciences. Indeed, as long as we stay polarized in research, how can we expect
stakeholders who rely on our research findings to take our work seriously?
It has been shown throughout this paper that a false dichotomy exists between quan-
titative and qualitative research. In fact, as noted by Tashakkori and Teddlie (1998), all
distinctions between quantitative and qualitative research methods lie on continua. For
example, the extent to which an independent variable is manipulated lies on a contin-
uum ranging from situations in which the investigator is the agent of change in the
‘treatment’ to cases where the investigator has no control over such changes. Similarly,
 International Journal of Social Research Methodology 385
the research setting used lies on a continuum ranging from natural to controlled.
Indeed, experiments can occur in natural settings (e.g. field experiments), while case
studies can occur in controlled settings (e.g. clinical case studies). Additionally,
hypotheses lie on a continuum ranging from exploratory to confirmatory. These are
just a few examples that illustrate the false dichotomy prevailing between the two tradi-
tions. Indeed, if a construct is measured using only one research method, then it would
be difficult to differentiate the construct from its particular mono-method operational
definition (Tashakkori & Teddlie, 1998).
As noted by Sechrest and Sidani (1995), a growth in the pragmatic researcher move-
ment has the potential to reduce some of the problems associated with singular meth-
ods. By utilizing quantitative and qualitative techniques within the same framework,
pragmatic researchers can incorporate the strengths of both methodologies. Most
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importantly, pragmatic researchers are more likely to be cognizant of all available

research techniques and to select methods with respect to their value for addressing the
underlying research questions, rather than with regard to some preconceived biases
about which paradigm is a hegemony in social science research.

Notes
[1] The differences between positivists and interpretivists highlighted in this section represent
1

distinctions between purists at each end of the quantitative-qualitative continuum. Unfortu-

nately, scant research has investigated empirically the proportion of researchers who fall at
either end of the continuum and at various other points of the continuum (Johnson, Meeker,
Loomis, & Onwuegbuzie, 2004).
[2] For a thorough discussion of how quantitative and qualitative research complement one
2

another, see Bryman (1988) and Onwuegbuzie and Leech (2004).

[3] For information about the excellent work in the area of mixed-methods research conducted
3

under the Economic and Social Research Council’s Research Methods Programme, please see
http://www.ccsr.ac.uk/methods

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