Are Humanism and Mixed Methods Related? Leibniz’s Universal (Chinese) Dream

Abstract

According to Guba and Lincoln, renunciation of mixed methods is characteristic of a moribund culture with the possible exception of human sciences. The question I raise here is whether a person can be considered a humanist only if he or she mixes methods, and I analyze Leibniz’s search for a universal system of justice to test this hypothesis. Considering the difference between a methodology and a mere approach, I also consider the issue of whether acquiring knowledge of any methodology always entails an approach. I stress the relationship between the concepts of “paradigm” and “culture” as a set of habits linked to mixed methods, and I conclude with an explanation of how mixing methods can be first sequential and, then, concurrent.