Abstract
Methodological debates in sociology are longstanding and pervasive. The tension between qualitative and quantitative methods is at the heart of much discourse about the state and direction of the discipline (see Blumer 1956; Denzin & Lincoln 2003, Hesse‐Biber & Leavy 2006; Karp 1999). This article (1) provides a definition and explanation of qualitative methods; (2) elucidates its contrast with quantitative methods; (3) explains underlying epistemological considerations that are at the heart of methodological disputes; (4) suggests that the fundamentally different pursuits of these methodologies nullify conflict; and (5) concludes by suggesting some future challenges that qualitative methodologists should attempt to address.
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