Critical Quantitative Ethnography (CritQE): A Pathway Toward Convergence Research and Equity
摘要
This paper introduces Critical Quantitative Ethnography (CritQE), a methodological and epistemological framework that integrates Quantitative Ethnography (QE) with Critical Social Theory (CST) to center equity, reflexivity, and epistemic justice in social science research. While QE offers tools for modeling meaning-making by combining qualitative and quantitative approaches, it often relies on epistemological assumptions that privilege consensus. Through collaborative inquiry, we critically examine the emphasis on interrater agreement in QE, arguing that treating coder disagreement as error reinforces dominant research paradigms and marginalizes diverse interpretive perspectives . In response, we introduce multivocal coding—a method that foregrounds divergence as a site of theoretical insight, acknowledging how social position and epistemological commitments inform what is seen and valued in the data. Drawing on data from a study involving Black American and Black immigrant college students, we demonstrate how multivocal coding enables researchers to engage with complexity, reveal positional dynamics, and produce ethical, inclusive analyses. This paper contributes to a growing body of scholarship that seeks to reimagine research design through the lens of critical inquiry, offering CritQE and multivocal coding as a model for transforming how meaning is constructed, validated, and applied in social science research.