The Practice of Multi-Method Research: Mixing Qualitative and Quantitative Methods(Methods for Social Inquiry)

Can interviews or a focus group improve the causal inferences drawn from experiments? Can quantitative text analysis help develop workflows as a qualitative scholar? Can we learn from a single case in a way that helps us with a statistical model? There is much to learn from the careful use of all these methodological combinations. The Practice of Multi-Method Research is aimed at practical researchers: from undergraduates preparing for an honors thesis, to graduate students designing a dissertation, through to seasoned scholars considering a new approach for their next set of studies. It offers a hands-on, practical guide to combining research across various methodological traditions: qualitative, machine learning, and quantitative approaches to concepts and measurement, adding quantitative and data-science components to process-tracing designs and to qualitative case studies in general, how qualitative research can strengthen regression-type designs, and how to mix qualitative elements with experiments. .

Table of Contents:
Preface; 1. Introduction; 2. Multi-method concept-making and measurement with Maximilian Weylandt; 3. Process tracing and multi-method research; 4. Multi-method case studies; 5. Regression and similar methods in multi-method research with Daniel J. Galvin; 6. What qualitative research brings to experiments; 7. Conclusion.

About the Author :
J. Seawright is Professor of Political Science at Northwestern University where she studies representation, democratic crisis, and multi-method research design. Seawright has written about party-system collapse and democratic crisis in Peru and Venezuela; about the participatory agendas of wealthy people and of billionaires in the US; and about case selection and other topics in multi-method research design. Seawright won the David Collier Mid-Career Achievement Award of the APSA's Qualitative and Multi-Method Research Section in 2018, and is the author of Multi-Method Social Science: Combining Qualitative and Quantitative Tools (Cambridge University Press, 2016). Kendra L. Koivu was Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of New Mexico where she studied organized crime, narcotics trafficking, early twentieth century Eurasian politics, statebuilding, political economy, fs/QCA, counterfactual analysis, case selection procedures, and mixed methods research. The award for best paper from the APSA's Qualitative and Multi-Method Research Section is named in her memory.

Review :
'Seawright and Koivu remind us that to fully understand politics we must value the contributions of both qualitative and quantitative methods. They then go one step further, offering concrete methodological guidance for conducting mixed methods work. This volume constitutes an indispensable resource for scholars at all career stages-whether designing their own mixed methods projects or advising others.' Erica S. Simmons, Professor of Political Science and International Studies, University of Wisconsin, Madison 'Seawright and Koivu's 'The Practice of Multi-Method Research' makes a compelling case that the so-called 'methods wars' are over, and that research across disciplines will benefit from an integrated, multi-method approach. This book offers a wealth of practical guidance on how to combine methods more effectively-from integrating qualitative and quantitative approaches to measurement, to leveraging qualitative insights to strengthen experimental designs. Comprehensive, concise, and clearly written, this jewel of a book is an invaluable resource for researchers at all levels.' David Waldner, Associate Professor, University of Virginia 'This insightful book has something valuable to offer anyone who is serious about doing high quality social science research. The authors provide accessible guidance about multi-method research where tools from separate methodological traditions are closely integrated. I encourage anyone skeptical of multi-method approaches to read the chapter that focuses on their favorite technique. They will find a combination of smart arguments and cutting-edge examples of how to leverage tools that they never thought about using together to produce more rigorous research.' Guy D. Whitten, Bob Bullock Chair in Public Policy and Finance, Texas A & M University