While there are many textbooks and manuals on the methodology of both quantitative and qualitative research designs, most focus chiefly on data collection rather than data analysis. Further, the literature on the interrelation of data gained from using quantitative and qualitative methods is neither extensive nor explicit about analytic procedures. Linking Data makes the case for the interrelation of data in light of recent advances in theory and in method, and describes ways in which quantitative and qualitative data can be interrelated so as to gain maximum purchase on substantive problems and research issues in social science. The book is liberally illustrated with empirical data from the authors’ work in sociological studies, political sociology, and the sociology of work and organizations. The authors are critical of the naive assumption that simply using several different methods necessarily ensures the validity of research findings. The need for a systematic approach to the assumptions made in formulating a research program and for rigor in establishing the linkage between methodology and the logic of the research design is emphasized in their discussion of multimethod research. The book is aimed at students in the social sciences, professional social researchers, and academic social scientists, particularly those involved in the growing field of training in social science research methods. It will be of interest to similar groups in associated fields such as evaluation research, behavioral sciences, and management and organizational studies.
Linking Data is a very dense text with a great deal packed into its 96 pages … This makes it a challenging paper for use as teaching material, to say nothing of its value in forcing practicing researchers to confront theoretical issues.
–Journal of the Market Research Society