Foundations of Multimethod Research: Synthesizing Styles

Drawing from authors John Brewer and Albert Hunter's original work published in 1989, when single method research was the standard, this new text offers an explanation of how a planned synthesis of various research techniques such as fieldwork, surveys, experiments, and nonreactive studies can be purposely used to improve social science knowledge. Foundations of Multimethod Research: Synthesizing Styles explores the many aspects of the multimethod research approach, including the formulation of research problems, data collection, sampling and generalization, measurement, reliability and validity, hyposthesis testing and causal analysis, and writing and publicizing results. Key Features: Provides a history of multimethod research as a post-positivist approach to give an accurate understanding of the emergence of this technique Compares and contrasts the major primary research methods to help students determine which multiple methods are suitable for their own research Addresses the post-modern critique of science and reviews how it has been articulated recently to examine how it is evaluated today Includes examples of research designs from academic journals so that students can see how formal results are written This book is designed for advanced undergraduate and graduate research methods courses across the social and behavioral sciences. It is a must-read for anyone looking to gain a better conceptual understanding of how to do social and behavioral science research more effectively. "This is a book I wish I had written. Although nearly every page contains an interesting methodological insight, it's the synthesizing nature of the multimethod perspective that I find most satisfying. Instead of a patchwork of precepts and procedures, Professors Brewer and Hunter present a coherent synthesis of the principal quantitative and qualitative research styles." -- Kenneth O. Doyle, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities "This is a superb resource for anyone undertaking research in the social sciences. Going beyond simple descriptions of how to use each of the individual methods, Brewer and Hunter provide compelling arguments for systematically synthesizing different research styles at each stage of the research process. In doing so, they help us to see social science research as both an art and a science. By focusing our attention on how a multimethod approach can enhance each stage of the research, they avoid the simplistic dichotomy between qualitative and quantitative research and provide us with a much more sophisticated way of looking at the multimethod approach." -- Sue R. Faerman, University at Albany-SUNY

Table of Contents:
Preface Historical Introduction 1. The Multimethod Approach and Its Promise Four Imperfect But Useful Research Methods A Broader Multimethod View Finding Consensus in a House of Many Mansions A Systematic Approach 2. A Healthy Skepticism About Theory and Method Orienting Theory Toward Research and Vice Versa A Healthy Skepticism An Assessment of Four Research Styles The Multimethod Approach: A Fifth Research Style 3. Formulating Research Problems The Role of Research Problems in the Research Process The Empirical Unfolding of Research Problems The Role of Theory in Problem Formulation 4. Collecting Data With Multiple Methods A Variety of Data-Collecting Methods Validation Versus Exploration Cost/Benefit Analyses of Different Methods of Data Collection 5. Finding the Objects to Study The Dilemma of the Few and the Many Units and Variables Types of Sampling Sampling and Generalization 6. Measuring Concepts and Assessing Measurement Validity Defining Social Scientific Measurement Judging Measurement’s Success From Facts Rather Than Fiction Designing Validation Studies What to Do if Measurement Fails (and How to Guard Against Failure) 7. Explaining Social Phenomena Causally Causation and Causal Explanation Modes of Causal Analysis Assessing the Validity of Causal Research Multitest Validity 8. A Postscript on Postmodernism The Postmodern Critique Some Research Examples The Technology of Method 9. Making Research Public: The Social Context of Multimethod Research Internal Politics External Politics Multimethod Research in Relation to Society References Index About the Authors

About the Author :
John D. Brewer is President of the British Sociological Association and Sixth-Century Professor of Sociology and former Head of Department (2004-2007) at Aberdeen University, moving from Queen’s University Belfast in July 2004. He was Head of the School of Sociology and Social Policy at Queen’s between 1993-2002. He has held visiting appointments at Yale University (1989), St John’s College Oxford (1992), Corpus Christi College Cambridge (2002) and the Research School of Social Sciences at the Australian National University (2003).  He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (elected 1998), an Academician in the Academy of Social Sciences (elected 2003), a Member of the Royal Irish Academy (elected 2004), then only the third sociologist to be elected in the Academy’s 217-year history, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (elected 2008).  He was a member of the Training and Development Board of the ESRC (2005-2007) and has been Chair of the British Sociological Association (2004-2006), a member of the National Committee for Economics and Social Science of the Royal Irish Academy (1997-1999) and a member of the International Assessment Panel of the Irish Research Council for the Humanities and Social Sciences (2002-07). He currently sits on the Council of the Irish Research Council for Humanities and Social Sciences and is a member of the ESRC′s Research College. In 2001 he became a member of the Institute of Learning and Teaching in Higher Education. In 2010 he became a member of the United Nations Roster of Global Experts. Albert Hunter is professor of sociology at Northwestern University, and is affiliated with Northwestern’s Institute for Policy Research and the Transportation Center. He has previously taught at the University of Chicago, Wesleyan University, and the University of Rochester. He has held visiting appointments at Yale, the London School of Economics and Political Science, the University of Paris, and the University of Edinburgh. His teaching and research interests include urban sociology, community, ethnicity, culture and literature, urban politics and civil society, and research methods. Hunter has published numerous books and articles, including Symbolic Communities, The Rhetoric of Social Research: Understood and Believed, Foundations of Multimethod Research, and most recently Pragmatic Liberalism: Constructing a Civil Society. His undergraduate degree is from Cornell and his PhD is from the University of Chicago.

Review :
This is a superb resource for anyone undertaking research in the social sciences. Going beyond simple descriptions of how to use each of the individual methods, Brewer and Hunter provide compelling arguments for systematically synthesizing different research styles at each stage of the research process. In doing so, they help us to see social science research as both an art and a science. By focusing our attention on how a multimethod approach can enhance each stage of the research, they avoid the simplistic dichotomy between qualitative and quantitative research and provide us with a much more sophisticated way of looking at the multimethod approach. This is a book I wish I had written. Although nearly every page contains an interesting methodological insight, it’s the synthesizing nature of the multimethod perspective that I find most satisfying. Instead of a patchwork of precepts and procedures, Professors Brewer and Hunter present a coherent synthesis of the principal quantitative and qualitative research styles.