An Introduction to Mixed Methods in Interdisciplinary Social Sciences

Methodology of interdisciplinary social sciences has been evolved during the time and has been faced with fundamental challenges; in the beginning, it has experienced positivistic paradigm and quantitative approach in understanding social phenomena and later recognized that this approach is not appropriate for understanding all aspects of social phenomenon. So, inspired by interpretive, has been focused on qualitative methods and turned his attention from the outer layers to the inner layers of social reality. Along with strengthening qualitative approaches, a considerable intellectual divide between qualitative and quantitative researchers. This divide, emerging primarily as confrontation later as collaboration, helped raising the third wave of methodology; mixed methods based on pragmatism. Mixed methodologist and interdisciplinary researchers intended to make something new and without a special emphasis, integrate quantitative and qualitative approaches for better understanding of social phenomena. Using documentary method, this paper introduces the basic concepts of mixed methodology.