Causal pluralism and mixed methods in the analysis of poverty dynamics

Abstract

This paper examines the relationship between poverty dynamics, causal pluralism, and mixed method research approaches. It reviews the nature and significance of the shift from the analysis of poverty status to poverty dynamics, discusses different approaches to causal reasoning and causal inference in philosophy and the social sciences, and presents empirical examples of mixed method studies of poverty dynamics. It concludes with a case for causal pluralism and mixed methods on grounds that empirical validation/adjudication is imperfect, knowledge is partial, and many causal systems are inherently complex.