Oldřich Krpec

Narrowing the Divide: Perspectives on the Future of Mixed Methods Report From Central and Eastern Europe

The main aim of this article is to place the report ‘‘The Future of Mixed Methods: A Five Year Projection to 2020’’ to the context of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). First, the impact of the heritage of socialist regimes, such as the institutional discontinuities and the hegemony of historical methods, on the quality of methodology in research and in education is described. It is argued that most local academics typically rejected quantification of social science and advocated for the use of qualitative and interpretative approaches, yet (qualitative) methodological rigor was missing. Second, the persisting specific regional challenges to the rigorous use of methodology are presented. These include high levels of inbreeding, lack of methodologically competent PhD supervision, and a strong path dependency of research career trajectories. As post-transitional societies have experienced serious and unique problems, only a limited number of CEE academics and institutions possess necessary methodological skills to participate in the current research debates. Finally, it is asserted that mixed methods research (MMR) is well suited to overcome the path dependency and help avoid the unproductive ‘‘paradigm war’’ fought elsewhere for decades. Based on the recommendations made by the Report, windows of opportunity for MMR in the CEE region are introduced, including several concrete steps that would encourage and facilitate this transition. The active participation of the MMR community and an understanding of the context would be extremely helpful for achieving a more rigorous level of methodology in CEE.

The Czech economy as an integrated periphery: The case of dependency on Germany

ABSTRACT The Czech Republic (CZ) is a small open economy that has been integrated into the European economy predominantly through its ties to Germany. Traditional analysis has focused on the positive aspects of this process and pointed out the favorable indicators of the Czech economy, strongly influenced by a modernist perspective (model of economic development) and neoliberalism (applied economic policies). The aim of this article is a more critical reflection on some important features of the Czech economic model. The application of some currently emerging analytic instruments of international economic relations allows us to point out many problematic features of the Czech economy—in particular its dependence on foreign capital combined with a weak ability to retain it and the low added value created within the CZ. There are indicators suggesting a dependent growth within a rigid pattern of an international division of labor and wealth distribution. We argue that shortcomings of the neoliberal model of development (even) in the case of a well prepared and governed economy are a good reason to bring the insights of dependency theory back into the discussion.