| Abstract: | To illustrate the potential use of plural research methods,two studies of Australian women's retirement incomes are examined.The first study employed quantitative microsimulation techniques.Its outcomes emphasised low lifetime earnings as a cause ofwomen's lower retirement incomes. The second study used an inductiveapproach known as grounded theory, and its conclusions emphasisedhousehold decision-making processes as a cause of both women'slow lifetime earnings and lower retirement incomes. Using Runde'scriteria for assessing causal explanations, a comparison ismade of the outcomes of the two studies. The conclusion is that,rather than being seen as competing accounts, the outcomes ofthe two varying research methods can be viewed as complementary.By demonstrating the different insights afforded by contrastingresearch methods, this paper provides some support for pluralismof research methods within the discipline of economics. |
