Ricerc@Sapienza

Abstract. Mixed methods approach has gained a broad consensus among social science scholars, who
often regard it as a “new paradigm” or the “third way” able to offer new and convincing answers to
the never-ending debate between quantitative and qualitative approaches to social research. In the first
part of the article we reconstruct the theoretical reflection on this topic, showing how the mixed methods
research is a well-rooted practice, dating back to the times of Paul Lazarsfeld and Rensis Likert.
Then, we present some results of a methodological study in which, in a mixed method approach three
questionnaire pretesting techniques – expert evaluation, cognitive interview, and verbal interaction
coding – is used to evaluate a structured questionnaire designed to study public opinions and attitudes.