Methodological and Theoretical Integration: Multi-Resolution Research of Multi-Decade Diaries

Developmental science is a fragmented field underpinned by fragmented methods and fragmented data. Quantitative and qualitative approaches advance siloed theories based on siloed methods and data. We argue that analysing longitudinal big qualitative data can provide a platform for theoretical integration through methodological integration. We illustrate this with research on naturally occurring diaries spanning decades and comprising millions of words. This rich textual data can be quantified to identify changes over time and qualitised to reveal the underlying semiotic processes occurring moment-to-moment within a single diary entry. This enables multi-resolution research, namely, zooming-out by quantifying the data to see macro patterns of development, and zooming-in by qualitising the data to identify the underlying micro-processes. We illustrate how this multi-resolution approach, which uses qualitative and quantitative methods to analyse the same data, can be used to deepen established developmental phenomena, integrate contradictory findings, and explore new theoretical insights about multi-decade developmental dynamics. Our contribution is to show how integrating methods, through rich longitudinal big qualitative data, can become a platform for theoretical integration.