Social Research Traditions and the Relevance of Methodological Triangulation

Abstract

For researchers in the social sciences, when to combine the quantitative and 
qualitative methods is an issue. This is either because they do not understand the 
relevance, are more favourably disposed to one, or believe the methods are 
incompatible. Such dispositions deny the researchers and end users of empirical 
studies rich information. The objectives of this paper are to lay bare the limitations 
of using one research methodology, and sensitize social scientists on the benefits 
of combining social research methodologies. The paper discusses the research 
traditions and the quantitative and qualitative methodologies, and goes on to look 
at the limitations of each of the traditions and methodologies. It also discusses the 
relevance of combining qualitative and quantitative methodologies which includes 
enabling a social researcher overcome biases and deficiencies of any one method 
and thus capitalize on their individual strengths; allowing a researcher to produce 
a fuller account of the situation that covers not only the scales of the issue such as 
numbers involved, but also gives some insight into the motivational factors that 
gave rise to the behavior; and increasing the validity of results by incorporating 
several viewpoints. In addition, methodological triangulation aids in sampling – 
information from one method can be used as the basis for selecting a sample of 
people who will participate in the research through a different and contrasting 
method. It also provides a researcher with the opportunity to check the findings 
from one method against the findings from a different method. The paper 
concludes that methodological triangulation is relevant because it enriches social 
research findings as it provides in-depth information; thus, it recommends 
methodological triangulation for social researchers. However, the paper cautions 
that the decision to use methodological triangulation should be guided by how 
useful it is in addressing a particular question, issue or problem that is being 
investigated.