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Quantitative and qualitative approaches in the study of poverty and adolescent development: separation or integration?

  • Janet T.Y. Leung and Daniel T.L. Shek EMAIL logo
Published/Copyright: May 20, 2011
International Journal of Adolescent Medicine and Health
From the journal Volume 23 Issue 2

Abstract

This paper examines the use of quantitative and qualitative approaches to study the impact of economic disadvantage on family processes and adolescent development. Quantitative research has the merits of objectivity, good predictive and explanatory power, parsimony, precision and sophistication of analysis. Qualitative research, in contrast, provides a detailed, holistic, in-depth understanding of social reality and allows illumination of new insights. With the pragmatic considerations of methodological appropriateness, design flexibility, and situational responsiveness in responding to the research inquiry, a mixed methods approach could be a possibility of integrating quantitative and qualitative approaches and offers an alternative strategy to study the impact of economic disadvantage on family processes and adolescent development.


Corresponding author: Professor Daniel T.L. Shek, PhD, FHKPS, BBS, JP, Chair Professor of Applied Social Sciences, Faculty of Health and Social Sciences, Department of Applied Social Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Room HJ407, Core H, Hunghom, Hong Kong, P.R. China

Received: 2010-6-14
Revised: 2010-7-20
Accepted: 2010-8-8
Published Online: 2011-05-20
Published Online: 2011-3-1
Published in Print: 2011-06-01

©2011 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin Boston

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