Predictive Sequential Research Design to Study Complex Social Phenomena

Abstract

Social phenomena in their simplest form share infinite complexities and relationships, and by interacting with other entities, their levels of complexity become exponentially inexplicable and incomprehensible. Using a single form of study in complex phenomena could be insufficient, and new forms of analysis should be opened that allow for observing the multidimensionality of study problems from integrative perspectives. The emergence of research using mixed methods attempts to reconcile these methodologies through integration, configuring a stage of interconnection between research paradigms that cause cuts and leaks that may or may not be consistent with the study’s object. At the time of integration, vices can be created by specific value and subjectivity judgments, with investigative diffraction being an alternative to extend integration through data fracture and redirecting the object of study. This work proposes a Predictive Sequential Research Design (DISPRE) for complex social phenomena, which uses fuzzy logic as a tool to solve the information biases caused by the investigative diffraction of each methodological approach as a strategy to capture, explain, understand and predict the intrinsic complexity of the social entity under study.

Keywords

• mixed methodology
• research methods
• social sciences
• complex thinking
• design
• artificial intelligence