Abductive Research Methods

Three abductive research methods are described: (1) The multivariate statistical method of exploratory factor analysis is presented as an abductive method of theory generation that exploits an important principle of scientific inference known as the principle of the common cause. (2) The theory of explanatory coherence is an abductive method for evaluating the explanatory worth of competing theories. (3) Grounded theory method promotes the inductive generation of theories grounded in qualitative data. However, it can be plausibly reconstructed as an abductive account of scientific method. It is recommended that these methods should be part of the methodological armamentarium of educational and social science researchers.