The quantitative-qualitative debate: add temporality and stir

Abstract

The quantitative-qualitative debate in Management and Organizational Studies has been of interest to scholars over the years. However, temporality seems to be absent from the discussion. This paper reviews the debate and its epistemological and methodological foundations. The paper supports the idea that research methods are different in degree and different in kind but that, fundamentally, research is neither quantitative nor qualitative. Despite the overwhelming incidence of studies that use stand-alone quantitative research methods, the paper concludes that it is doubtful such studies can effectively deal with the temporality of social variables unless qualitative enquiry is also employed.