Anyway, Mangini wants to know if I think quantitative research has any value or place in research, so here goes...
I liked all of the ideas presented in the reading. I think there is a place, albeit small, for quantitative research. We've got to have a way to count some things. A mixed method approach would help quantify any data collected in a research project. But, numbers can lie, or tell "Catholic" lies - you know, the not quite a lie, but not the truth either. How do we quantify human behavior? We can scale it, but we can't predict how any one person will react in a given situation, even if we counted a thousand people who acted that way previously. Most of what we experience in human nature cannot be quantified.
If I polled 100 people and asked them to pick their favorite color, but offered only the basic colors of red, yellow, green, blue, brown, orange, violet, they would probably choose one of those colors to answer my survey. What if a respondent's favorite color was amethyst? More than likely, that person would choose violet - but, that's not their favorite color. I would have false results, because even if "blue" was someone's favorite color, which shade of blue? Can we even count the number of colors that can be seen? How do I quantify the results of what seems to be a simple question, when the very thing in question cannot be quantified?
Do numbers play a role? In my opinion, when it comes to humans, numbers play a small role. We can count fingers, toes, body parts, family size, cancer patients, etc., etc. But, we can't count the human spirit, we can't count human emotion, human behavior, human interactions. There are far too many variables. We can't say, 1000 people in this group did that, so everyone in the group will do that. I can't help but think of Quantum Theory - we can know a particle's spin, but we can't simultaneously know it's velocity. Scientists have to choose which aspect they want to measure, "probability" areas of a particle can be estimated, but scientists can't pinpoint the exact location at any given moment of time.
In my opinion, there are no true "universal laws" - even Einstein's E = MC(2) has come into question. We can only use data to help understand our existence, it can't be used to define it. I think quantitative researchers seek to define, explain, and predict aspects of human nature. It is arrogant to believe that anyone can uncover a universal law or truth when it comes to the mystery of human nature. Yet, the desire to do so is beautiful. Why are we here in the first place?
Okay, I sorta used this as an escape from my work on Twitterive, think I'll head back there now...