Possibility of Integrating Qualitative Research and Quantitative Research: Possibility of approaching common problems from different perspectives

Abstract

In this report, I will 1) summarize the “role of social science,” 2) discuss the approaches of “qualitative research” and “quantitative research” based on my experience, and 3) discuss the future prospects using my collaborative research as a case study. The role of social science is to conduct medical treatment for social issues. The stages can be categorized as follows: basic research to clarify the nature of the issues in the social structure and construct hypotheses, clinical research to examine the universality of the constructed hypotheses in the field and to formulate countermeasures, and epidemiological research to prove the effectiveness of the formulated countermeasures in a time series or in a large population. In addition, qualitative and quantitative research have different areas of expertise. Qualitative research is good at constructing new hypotheses, while quantitative research is good at demonstrating the universality of hypotheses based on numerical values. I was able to have a very meaningful experience by collaborating with researchers who have different research methods on a common problem. The importance and necessity of inter­disciplinary research is increasing. It is important to provide opportunities to tackle common problems with different research methods.