Institutional Analysis of Economy: Qualitative and Quantitative Research and Methods

Abstract

The article is devoted to a comparative analysis of two alternative approaches to the study of economic institutions - qualitative and quantitative research methodologies. Analysis of the first shows that the task is to identify the meanings that people attach to their actions, while the task of the second is to identify regularities of connections between institutions and various aspects of behavior. Institutional analysis conducted on the basis of qualitative methodology is based on vague definitions of institutions that lack operationalization, while quantitative studies of institutions rely on strict operational definitions. The article outlines the procedures for both qualitative and quantitative research on institutions, the first of which involves obtaining data primarily through interviewing informants, and the second, primarily through observation of behavior. Accordingly, the result of a qualitative research is metis - local experiential knowledge possessed by members of a certain community, while the result of a quantitative study is a generalized knowledge of regularities expressed by confirmed hypotheses. The obtained comparison results can serve as information for researchers to select a methodology for studying economic institutions.