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Bryman: Social Research Methods: 3e

Chapter 24

http://www.raggedclaws.com/criticalrealism/
This is the “Web Site for Critical Realism” (WSCR), and serves as an important reminder that positivism is not the only set of epistemological principles on which the natural sciences are based. The site contains plenty of informative articles by critical realists, a searchable database of citations and a home page that keeps you updated about all the latest news in this field.

http://academic.csuohio.edu/kneuendorf/content/
This page provides a set of “Content Analysis Resources” that illustrate how this research method can be linked to both quantitative and qualitative research strategies. By following the links to sites about the various different kinds of content analysis that can be done, you will see that it is not easy to categorize this technique as specifically quantitative or qualitative.

http://wilderdom.com/research/QualitativeVersusQuantitativeResearch.html#Features
James Neill is a psychologist, specialising in ’outward-bound’, adventure-style learning activities.  He has created the "Wilderdom” website, to which you can (and should, it’s good fun!) navigate from this link.  You will find lots of valuable material about research methods in general, particularly those with a qualitative emphasis.  This link brings up a useful table, highlighting the differences between quantitative and qualitative research methodologies.

http://www.qualitative-research.net/fqs/fqs-e/inhalt1-01-e.htm
The February 2001 issue of the Forum for Social Research’s online journal (Vol 2, No 1), edited by Margit Schreier and Nigel Fielding is devoted entirely to the ways in which quantitative and qualitative methods can complement each other. After an interesting editorial article, a series of cases are presented to illustrate the integration of these, apparently, opposing approaches.

http://www.qualitative-research.net/fqs-texte/1-01/1-01westmarland-e.htm
Here we see how the debate about the relative autonomy of research methods has implications for particular branches of social theory, such as feminism. In this article, Nicole Westmarland from the University of York discusses the way in which quantitative methods have been associated with positivism, objectivity and masculinity, whereas qualitative methods have been associated with interpretivism, subjectivity and femininity. She challenges this simplistic dichotomy and argues that feminists need to use whichever methods are most well suited to their research questions.