摘要
混合方法整合了多种研究方法的优势,具有优于单一研究方法的解释力,为分析日益复杂的管理现象提供了方法论。然而,尽管混合方法具有诸多优势并得到了反复呼吁,但大部分研究者对于其原理、设计和应用思路仍不清晰。基于混合方法的已有研究,本文梳理了混合方法的内涵、哲学基础及其设计类型。在此基础上,提出了QCA与多案例研究的混合方法,并分析了QCA与多案例研究的4种混合类型,分别为准混合设计、顺序混合设计、转换混合设计以及充分集成混合设计。最后,本文提出了开展混合方法研究时建议遵循的相关性、适配性、系统性和透明性4个原理,进而讨论了混合方法研究值得探索的发展方向。研究为开展其他混合方法研究提供了借鉴,对促进混合方法在管理学领域的应用和发展具有积极意义。
The compatibility of research methods is one of the charac-teristics of management research.These methods mainly include most of the quantitative research methods with positivism as the philosophy standpoint and inclined to deductive reasoning logic in form,and most of the qualitative research methods with constructivism as the philoso-phy standpoint and inclined to inductive reasoning logic in form.Due to the differences in philosophy standpoints and paradigms,the debate on the relative value between quantitative and qualitative research methodologies has never stopped.In this process,mixed methods,as a third research paradigm,became a bridge between quantitative and qualitative research.Mixed methods integrate the strengths of multiple research methods,have superior explanatory power to single research method,and provide a methodology for analyzing increasingly complex management phenomena.However,mixed methods research is often accompanied by significant challenges in its specific application.For example,what kind of research questions are appropriate for mixed methods to analyze;how research methods based on different philos-ophy standpoints and paradigms can be mixed;how to complement the strengths and compensate for the weaknesses of different research methods,so as to enhance the value of the research;and the need for the researcher to master different research methods,devote more time and resources.These challenges have also led to a prominent problem in previous mixed methods research:'in some cases,researchers combine methods in a way that is redundant rather than a value add'.This implies that despite the advantages of mixed methods in integrating different re-search paradigms and improving the quality of research,most research-ers are still unclear about the rationale,design,and application of ideas in mixed methods research.Based on this,this paper tries to provide a set of guidelines for conduct-ing mixed methods research,firstly,clarifying the connotation and phi-losophy basis of mixed methods based on existing research and sorting out the typologies of mixed methods design;secondly,taking a mixed methods approach of qualitative comparative analysis(QCA)and multi-case study as an example,it elaborates on the design ideas and possible typologies of mixed methods design;and lastly,based on the above discussion,it suggests the mixed methods research fundamentals,and discusses the directions of development that are worth exploring.The study will help to promote the discussion on mixed methods research in the field of management,and has positive significance in advancing the application and development of mixed methods research in the field of management.With pragmatism as its philosophy foundation,mixed methods research offers a program for bridging the difference between quantitative and qualitative research paradigms.Pragmatism rejects dualisms and,in terms of methodology,advocates the use of practical,outcome-oriented research methods,including the mixing of different methodological ap-proaches,thus helping researchers to better answer research questions.Quantitative and qualitative research paradigms are applicable to differ-ent research situations and analyze different research questions,and either research paradigm may be meaningful from a pragmatism standpoint.At the same time,pragmatism supports compromise and is more concerned with the role of different research paradigms in solving specific prob-lems.In some contexts,integrating elements such as perspectives and research techniques from different paradigms into the same study(mixed methods research),taking full advantage of the strengths and compensat-ing for the weaknesses of the different approaches,may be a better fit for the research problem and yield richer research insights.Based on the phi-losophy of pragmatism,at the generalized level,mixed methods can be understood as a method of applying multiple viewpoints and perspectives in a combination to gain theoretical as well as practical knowledge,and this combination usually integrates the ideas of qualitative and quantita-tive research.“Mixed methods research”and“multi-method research”are often used interchangeably in existing research.Following the principle of complementary strengths and non-overlapping weaknesses,mixed methods research integrates the strengths of different research methods into the same study,which has better explanatory power than a single method for certain research questions,and has gradually become a popular third research paradigm in the field of organization science.Different ways of combining different methods result in different re-search designs.Different typologies of mixed methods research can be produced based on criteria such as the purpose of the mixed methods research,the priority and temporal sequence of methods,the stage at which the mixing occurs,and the different combinations of scientific reasoning logics.Because of the diversity of methods in mixed methods research and the fact that research questions may change as research is conducted,the typologies of mixed methods research designs cannot be exhaustive,but identifying some basic typologies of mixed designs can be helpful in assisting the researcher in selecting or constructing the optimal strategy to apply to a particular research question. Drawing on the typologies of mixed methods research classified by criteria such as the stage at which the mixing occurs, this paper illustrates the principles and design ideas of mixed methods research using the mixed methods of QCA and multi-case study as examples. Considering the commonalities and differences between QCA methods and multi-case study methods in terms of connotations, analytical tech-niques, research questions, strengths and weaknesses, integrating the advantages of QCA and multi-case study methods can help to analyze the complex relationship between conditions and results and their im-plied causal mechanisms, construct a more parsimonious and universal theory, and obtain more comprehensive and scientific research insights. Following the principle of mixing with complementary strengths and non-overlapping weaknesses, the mixed methods of QCA and multi-case study contain at least four design ideas: quasi-mixing, sequential mixing, conversion mixing, and fully integrated mixing. Based on these designs, researchers can develop more mixed modes of QCA and multi-case study to analyze specific research questions. The mixed methods of QCA and multi-case study provides the feasibility of developing other mixed meth-ods and reveals the great potential of mixed method research. Based on the review of mixed methods research, combined with the dis-cussion on the mixed method of QCA and multi-case study, this study centers on the questions of what kind of research questions are suitable for mixed methods, how to appropriately mix methods based on differ-ent paradigms, and how to make valuable contributions to mixed meth-ods research, etc., and proposes that when conducting mixed methods research, it is recommended to follow the four basic principles of rele-vance of the research questions, appropriateness of the research design, systematicness of the theoretical framework and transparency. Based on these four basic principles, we further discuss the development direc-tions of mixed methods research that are worth exploring, including the development of mixed methods oriented to complex system problems in the digital and intelligent era;carrying out the mixed design of methods under different paradigms and developing or constructing theories;and ap-plying mixed methods to analyze cross-level complex problems, and so on. Mixed methods can integrate the advantages of different research meth-ods and provide management scholars with a rich methodology for an-alyzing and solving complex management problems. The development of disciplines often relies on the development of scientifically rigorous methodologies. In the face of the great changes in management practice and research in the digital and intelligent era, advancing mixed methods research is of great methodological significance in exploring complex management problems in a comprehensive and fine-grained manner and promoting the development of management disciplines.
作者
孙宁
杜运周
陈凯薇
Sun Ning;Du Yunzhou;Chen Kaiwei(School of Economics&Management,Southeast University;Institute of Management Philosophy and Methodology,Southeast University)
出处
《南开管理评论》
CSSCI
北大核心
2024年第9期185-196,共12页
Nankai Business Review
基金
国家自然科学基金重点项目(72233001)
国家自然科学基金项目(72072030)资助。
