The qualitative nature of quantitative data

Quantitative data seduce its audience by giving the impression of being solid and objective (i.e., the ‘rigor of numbers’). But quantitative data is embedded in a whole range of qualitative practices and operations, including construction of data and their interpretation. We need to understand these qualitative aspects of quantitative research in order to understand how one may be able to link and possibly combine various types of data in non-hierarchical ways, quantitative data always being considered superior to qualitative, textual data. This session focuses on the qualitative nature of quantitative data.

Panelists:

• Prof. Dr. Esther Peeren (UvA)
• Prof.Dr. F.P. Pijpers (UvA, CBS)

About the series

The nature of contemporary society is such that many scholars call for interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary research. This is easier said than done. There are all sorts of technical problems – from data collection to congruence between different types of models – but there are deeper, more fundamental issues underneath those. Disciplinary differentiation and the solidifying into highly-specialised niches means that the scientific landscape has sacrificed holism for single-field and single-method expertise. Tell-tale signs include the convention of dichotomizing data into quantitative and qualitative data, the widely-held belief that quantitative research is superior to qualitative research, and an entrenchment of methods in different schools. While differentiation is inevitable, necessary and relevant, and has brought us many good things, it also created and maintained a sort of sectarism along the lines of epistemological and methodological cliques. Expertise has become a dogma to defend and to evangelise as the only possible way. Besides hampering interdisciplinary research, it also narrows opportunities for a healthy dialogue, debate and cooperation across different disciplines and expertise. Multi-data, comparative, multi- and mixed-method research, integrated methods is a sort of antidote to the extreme specialisation of disciplines and methods in the (social) sciences.

We are hence faced with the task to put the pieces together in the face of pressing contemporary issues requiring us to plan and implement a type of research that can look beyond differences. This requires a rediscovery of the fundamentals of each position and the attempt to mitigate the persistent incompatibilities that hinder modelling, data collection and (empirical) analysis to find a space for dialogue. This series 'The Practice of Mixed Methods and Mixed Data Research' aims to articulate the various dimensions of the problem and to come up with tentative methodological solutions, that we explore in a series of seminars.

Scheduled sessions

Sessions take place on Fridays, 13:00-14.00 (online):

• 3^rd December 2021: opening session
• 10^th December 2021: The qualitative nature of quantitative data
• 14^th January 2022: The quantification of qualitative data
• 28^th January 2022: The nature of data
• 11^th February 2022: One, many, thousands… big
• 25^th February 2022: Syntactic and semantic structures
• 11^th March 2022: Causality
• 25^th March 2022: Doing mixed methods

Each session will consist of a discussion kicked off by 2 panelists and will be followed by a Q&A session with a moderator.

Please register for each session separately, as we aim to keep the group to a manageable size, with a maximum of 25 participants.