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Abstract
The turn to the use of mixed qualitative and quantitative (Q-Squared)
methods in the analysis of poverty is a welcome development with large potential
payoffs. While the benefits of mixing are not in doubt, the tensions involved in so doing
have not received adequate attention. The aim of this paper is to address this gap in the
“Q-Squared” literature. It argues that there are important differences between approaches
to poverty which operate at the levels of epistemology and normative theory. These
differences have implications for the numerical transformation of data, the selection of
validity criteria, and the conception/dimension of poverty adopted and interpersonal
comparisons of well-being.