Analysis of Research Approaches Integration in Marketing—Methodological and Empirical Aspects

In social studies, including marketing studies, proposals for applications of an integrated methodology appear, based on the so-called third methodological path, which is also referred to as the mixed methods. In the article, an attempt is made to outline the cognitive orientation in marketing and picture the ways of connecting approaches in the social sciences as the inspiration for marketing. The aim of the article is to propose a methodology of researching forms and degrees of methodological integration in marketing studies along with diagnosing the scale and forms of methodological integration in marketing studies. Studies of analyses on the application of integrated approaches in marketing research and the author’s own analysis have helped to determine that attempts to research along the third methodological path are being made, however, such studies are rare. Methodological integration is used most often as a research support for the positivist interpretative research.

while noting that simplifications such as in the concept of R. J. Keith, considering are preventing it from being considered a science. They also drew attention to the problem of blurring the boundaries of marketing and, consequently, its common interests with other sciences (economics, psychology), particularly in certain aspects of consumer behavior. The authors stressed problems the science of marketing, noting that many scientists do not recognize sources of marketing: its main assumptions are derived from the practice, and that the marketing of sources accounted for more meaningful, observable knowledge and did not provide (still does not provide) reliable data. They noted that in marketing too little space is devoted to the theory. A schematic, simplified approach to marketing masks its depth and achievements.
The classic paradigm, in spite of changes in the environment and conditions for the functioning of enterprises, was recognized as the leading one. It is difficult to look at modern marketing in an instrumental way. Rather, according to the representatives of the Nordic school, one should emphasize the functional aspect. Marketing should be focused on meeting the needs and desires of consumers and creating relationships. In this way, the marketing helps the company to efficiently operate in the economy, in which physical goods are no longer are the main value (Grönroos, 1994b). The concept of 4P does not fit into the contemporary market; it is difficult, therefore, to explain its leading position in the theory and education of marketing (Gummesson & Grönroos, 2012). The new environment requires a different view on the essence of marketing.

Fundamentals of Marketing Research Methodology
Research on marketing may be of historical nature. Then, it constitutes a reflection on its evolution and development. It may also relate to the current state of knowledge of the field or its components.
Marketing studies should serve the shaping of paradigms and theoretical concepts, providing knowledge about marketing. Knowing marketing is a prerequisite for shaping its academic status; it is an integral component of its identity as a branch of science, therefore it is important to look at the methodological approaches used in marketing. Three basic methodological paths for seeking knowledge in marketing and about marketing: critical, positivist, and interpretative are indicated (Hudson & Ozanne, 1988;Sagan, 2013).
The critical current is a methodological proposal that allows verification of the theory by means of deep reflection. It is derived from Poper's falsifiability; it consists of subjecting the acquis of the science to criticism in order to assess the validity of individual models and theories. In the world literature, critical marketing is rather a margin current although starting from the 1970s, it has found its followers (Burton, Published by SCHOLINK INC. researcher. The knowledge accumulated in both methodological approaches has distinct specificities.  Babbie, 2013;Sagan, 2004;M. Kostera, 2007. Studies in positivist vein often separate the researcher from the process of collecting information, focused on the management of the research project and the organization of individual tasks. At the design stage of the studies the research problem is defined, a detailed categorization of items of research is formed, and a hypothesis is formulated. In this type of research one seeks objective knowledge of reality, and the researcher separates research material from their beliefs and values.
In interpretative studies, the researcher is obliged to come into direct and personal relationship with studied area. In interpretative studies at the problem is defined at the outset and creates the overall concept of the proceedings. This approach allows one to pose open, cognitive questions and leaves room for making subsequent changes to the direction of the research, and even adjust the main research problem. In the interpretative research process, arises knowledge that did not give rise to the creation of generalizations, rights and rules, but allows one to understand the phenomena examined.

Ways of Combining Methodological Approaches in the Social Sciences
Combining methodologies is a proposal aimed at improving the efficiency of research processes. The idea of integrating research approaches assumes that since there are no perfect ways and methods of cognition, each methodology has some limitations, therefore, one should use the possibilities of different approaches. This allows one to gather a more complete methodological knowledge than in a single path and better create and verify theories. Combining methodological approaches is difficult, however, the solution of the difficulties significantly expands the cognitive perspective.
Methodological integration is an interesting prospect for marketing research. It is worth drawing from proposals submitted by the representatives of various social sciences, especially sociology, but also economics and management sciences.
One of the manifestations of methodology integration in various areas of social research is triangulation.
It concerns the combination of approaches, orientation, or methods in various stages of research. The essence of triangulation is to look at issues from different, at least two points of view (Flick, 2011).
Conducting research from different perspectives frequently requires the use of a few methodological approaches within one research project, although it is also possible to use the idea of triangulation on a smaller scale, within the same research methodology. The use of different research methods combines many research techniques. Integration may refer to different stages of the research process: design of research (e.g., confrontation of the researchers, presenting various positions), collecting information (e.g., observations by different scholars), analysis of the results (e.g., use of statistical methods and qualitative analysis in the processing of responses). Therefore, from the point of view of the research project, triangulation applies to many issues, while the scale of its application is different, but always behind it there is the idea of comparing different perspectives, confronting the various positions and methodological views.
The concept of triangulation was taken from navigation and military strategies, where it applied to using many points to accurately determine the position of an object (Jick, 2008). Triangulation is a method used in astronomy and geodesy, used in setting coordinate of points. It uses the properties of the triangle-knowledge on the sides of the triangle and of its angles allows one to measure the whole www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/jbtp Journal of Business Theory and Practice Vol. 6, No. 4, 2018 Published by SCHOLINK INC.
figure. The term triangulation captures the essence of multiple approaches or cognitive methods for the specified problem. Once can look from many perspectives in order to build a more complete picture and help measure, verify the data, and ensure the reliability of the data collected. It should be noted, however, that the concept of triangulation used in social studies is quite different from the triangulation used in navigation. In the first case, double or multiple measurements to verify the quality of the data, in the second, they determine the correct location. Triangulation should be treated as a metaphor. The importance of this concept is not fully identical with its original meaning (Blaikie, 2008;Hammersley, 2008).
Today, triangulation is a very broad and multi-faceted concept, related to the research strategy, research procedures, methods and research techniques, sources of information and general concepts, paradigms and approaches (Perlesz & Lindsay, 2003). Each type of triangulation that goes beyond one methodological orientation in the research project can be thought of as an illustration of the methodological integration in research. This form of integration is indicated by Hammersley (2008)  When narrowed down to one current and individual assumptions, methods of data collection and analysis, one can at best mitigate the limitations, as they cannot be completely eliminated. The idea of a "mixed method" assumes that the research process can be used by both research approaches, thus methodological flaws of one path can be mitigated by the advantages of the other.
Orientation described as mixed method is called the third methodological path, and constitutes the third research paradigm, providing a third methodological movement (Teddlie & Tashakkori, 2009). The concept of an integrated methodology, with the aim, as emphasized by the sense of orientation, to reduce the dichotomy between quantitative and qualitative research, is also applied (Plowright, 2011).
In many works devoted to the issues presented, the term integrated or mixed methods is used. Studies of articles and chapters of monographs containing integrated method or synonyms for this concept allow one to note that much the issues of integration of methodologies are considered more often than the problems of integration of research methods. If attention is already given to connecting social research methods, it is to be noted that the essence of this integration is combining the methods used in separate methodological currents.
Within the third methodological path, no new methods of knowing have been created, however, it was attempted to combine extreme, opposing views on the creation of a research project, collect information, analyze, interpret and present data. It is an attempt to base research on entirely different methodological currents. It is not, as has been presented in the next section, an easy task, but one possible to achieve. What is more, it seems particularly useful in the exploration of complex, problematic, multifaceted and contextual social realities. Its methodical examination within one path creates limitations in building a comprehensive knowledge. The advantage of mixed methods is the ability to create diverse knowledge, wide and deep, although it should be remembered that not every type of approach and data integration broadens the perspective of research and knowledge.
The mixed methodology involves combining procedures at the design stage and during the processing of results. Integration concerns the researchers, but also the research objects. In the research procedure, its theoretical and methodical aspects are subject to it. Despite the diverse nomenclature, the presented approach means joining (at different levels) the methodology of qualitative research with quantitative research. Understood in this way, the methodology is an alternative for research according to the assumptions of one methodological approach: positivism or interpretationism.

State of Research on Methodological Integration in Marketing
An attempt to diagnosis the use mixed approaches in studies of marketing is based on the available literature analysis ( Table 2)

M. Grimmer
The analysis made by Hanson and Grimmer (2007) was a pioneering one. It is the first available analytical study in the literature on the subject of connecting methodological approaches in the study of marketing issues. The authors intentionally selected research units: articles posted in leading marketing journals. The selection was guided by the quality of magazines. The highest-rated journals, with high standards of qualifications were selected. In addition, the selected magazines came from the U.S. and Europe, to make a comparison of the scope and scale of the methodological integration in marketing studies on different continents.
Hanson and Grimmer (2007)  The last group was differentiated based on the following criteria: -in the studies, integration of the research methods took place; both significant methods for quantitative research (e.g., direct survey) and methods specific to qualitative research (e.g., in-depth and unstructured interviews) were used.
-the authors of the studies clearly declared in which methodological trends their research was set in.

Approaches in the Study of Marketing Issues by Hanson and Grimmer
Source: own study based on: Hanson & Grimmer, 2007.  At least one of the above two criteria had to be met in order for the study to be classified as mixed approach. The study noted that research on marketing issues is part of the continuum whose poles are quantitative and qualitative research. Placing research on different places on the axis of the continuum, as Hanson and Grimmer (2007) stressed, can cause some difficulty in classification. Generally, extracting quantitative research is not a problem, conducted in a positivist vein, while there are qualitative studies which have different goals and objectives, and therefore can be implemented in the interpretative current, but they can adopt assumptions closer to the positivist orientation. The authors drew attention to the certain degree of subjectivity in making final decisions in the ambiguous cases qualification. At the same time, it was attempted to resolve the difficulties of classification using dual coding to distinguish qualitative research from mixed studies. In the case of studies that used the mixed approaches, attempts were made to determine if any of the approaches were dominant, and if so, which ones. Results of the analysis are presented in Figure 1.
The analysis by Hanson and Grimmer (2007) showed  Models of methodological integration in the analysis by Harrison and Reilly (2011) are presented in Table 3. The models were developed based on several criteria. The first of them was time. In this way, integration referred to as sequential and parallel (concurrent) was distinguished. In the sequential integration method, research is conducted within one methodological path, and after its completion, planning and execution of research in the second path is carried out. In parallel studies, research carries out in two currents at once. Another criterion of typology of methodological integration in research is the status of integrated approaches. In the case of many models one dominant approach occurs, while the second is the supplementing approach.
The last of the criteria of the typology of methodological integration is the way of combining data.
Combining of results, and so data collected independently in qualitative and quantitative studies can be distinguished, at the stage of data analysis and interpretation. Such a method of integration takes place in the convergent method. Another way to combine data is including information from a complementary research procedure to data collected using the dominant research procedure. This kind of merging occurs in embedded integration. Another way to combine data is to use the information gained in one methodological approach to plan research in the second approach. Such data combinations are characteristic for sequential integration.
The authors embraced only those articles in the analysis of the methodological integration of approaches in marketing studies that in addition to the declaration of using different methodological paths presented results of research specific to both procedures. 43 such articles were identified, which represents 1.7% of all analyzed articles ( Figure 2). Thus, the mixed studies are found very rarely in marketing. In terms of the research procedure, sequential studies have a definite advantage. In this way, the results of research gathered in one methodology current serve designing research in a different path.
Among the 34 cases in which sequential studies were conducted, qualitative and quantitative research were granted equivalent status in only 7 of them. In other studies, qualitative research constituted quantitative research. Such a trend can be clearly seen in the assessment of the priorities of the analyzed studies. In most cases, a quantitative approach dominated. Thirteen research projects represented a balanced approach, as shown by the lack of dominance of one of the methodological approaches.
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The developed schema (Table 4) should be regarded as a methodological proposal. It is worthwhile discussing the ways to verify whether the research project is already integrated or not, and when can it be ascribed to one methodology. Once again, it is worth noting that, according to the author of the monograph, it is determined by the orientation of the researcher, his or her beliefs and the methodology she or he was trying to carry out the research.

Results
The analyzed publications in the Marketing i Rynek journal are theoretical; reviews and conceptual texts included there. The group also included editorial comments and book reviews. They accounted for nearly 60% of all texts. Slightly more than 40% in the journal's content was taken up by texts Connecting methodological approaches signifies the application of at least two methodological paths, while the share of each methodology throughout the research project depends on the researcher's decision. Among the mixed methods, the positivist approach dominated (13 out of 18). Just as in the world research, in Poland the sequential approach dominated. It is manifested in two ways. In some projects, one of the methodologies was used to develop research tools to be used by a different methodology; other studies were based on a dominant path, for example, a direct survey, and then supplemented by (individual or group) qualitative interviews.
In the light of the analysis, the dominant places of methodology integration in the research procedures were the research planning stages, research tools and interpretation of the results. The procedure of data collection and their processing remained separate in each of the methodologies.

Discussion
The issue of methodological approach integration in the study of marketing both in terms of methodology and research practice is a rather minor trend. Only a few studies were designed and carried out with the use of integrated approaches within the so-called third methodological path. In the studies on marketing, the positivist orientation is dominant. Integration based on the converging methodology emerged even more rarely, with a balance between the positivist and interpretative approaches. Also in mixed forms, positivist orientation prevails in the researchers.
At the same time, as is apparent from the considerations and analyses, methodological integration broadens and deepens the perspective of the researcher, and is a valuable tool for building knowledge and scientific theory. The implementation of integrated research has significant limitations that prevent them from being massively used by researchers. One of them is time. Such studies are extended in time, primarily due to the inclusion of the interpretative path in the study. Integrated studies raise costs.
Methodological integration requires a wide knowledge and skills of the researcher concerning extremely different methodological approaches.
The analyses by the two research teams referred to in the article and the author's own study are not fully comparable, since they were carried out on different research units and at different time periods.
They all relate to a pioneering subject matter, therefore, they should be treated as pilot studies, however, the results of these analyses are convergent. The analyses used different methodologies; certainly, they can constitute a contribution to discussion and future improvements. In the future, it shall be worthwhile to undertake research on a larger scale using the same research units, for example, journals analyzed by Harrison & Reilly.