This position paper proposes that the terms pioneer and complementary are
better suited to the classification of research on grounds that they provide
the best answer to the epistemological question: what is the purpose of
research? Alternatively it purports that quantitative and qualitative are
better used to describe types of data. It is the position of this paper that
research lies along a continuum polarized by quantitative (positivistic) at one
end and qualitative (constructivist) at the other. Multi-methods including
mixed and non-mixed designs lie along this continuum. Also it proposes that
pioneer and complementary are more appropriate descriptors of research as they
are capable of drawing attention to the major significance of scientific
inquiry in social development.
Cite this paper
Berkeley, B. (2015). Pioneer and Complementary Research: The True Research Taxonomy. Open Access Library Journal, 2, e1130. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/oalib.1101130.
Strauss, A.L. and Corbin, J.M. (2008) Basics of Qualitative Research: Techniques and Procedures for Developing Grounded Theory. Sage Publications, Los Angles.
Bernstein, B. (1971) Class, Codes and Control: Theoretical Studies towards a Sociology of Language. Routledge & Kegan Paul, London.
http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9780203014035