Abstract

CARVALHO, Ana Maria Almeida; PEDROSA, Maria Isabel  and  AMORIM, Kátia S.. Revisiting quality versus quantity debate: a reflection based on research experiences. Temas psicol. [online]. 2006, vol.14, n.1, pp. 51-62. ISSN 1413-389X.

Quantitative and qualitative data and their analyses are two types of representation of phenomena, and quantitative paradigm is still prevalent in social sciences, Psychology included. The last decades, however, while quantitative orientation is still dominant, several significant criticisms regarding quantitative data have emerged, indicating qualitative analyses as more adequate to capture psychological and social processes. Quantitative-qualitative debate has advanced in contemporary social sciences, with often rigid distinctions between the two methods, and leading to hot (and unnecessary) disputes in which each method is taken as an opposite and/or incompatible alternative to the other. This paper aims at revisiting this still live debate, using examples derived from empirical research, especially on child-child interactions and play, in order to reflect on consistency of logical and methodological oppositions between qualitative and quantitative

Keywords : Quantitative/qualitative; Child-child interaction; Data analyses.

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