A researcher or research team pursues a mixed methods approach to understand a given topic or phenomenon more deeply when numbers or narratives alone do not provide a complete picture. Combining qualitative and quantitative approaches can enhance conversations about theory and/or inform the evolution of practice and policy. This complex and demanding research paradigm requires knowledge, skill, and expertise in quantitative and qualitative methods, as well as the art of carefully integrating the approaches to and findings from each mode of inquiry.
This course focuses on strategies, tips, and best practices to accomplish this integration in accessible and effective ways, including:
- Rationales to guide decision-making related to study design and execution.
For example:- Will the qualitative and quantitative data collection efforts occur concurrently or sequentially, and why?
- Will either the qualitative or quantitative be privileged or will each contribute equally to answering the research questions and generating the project’s final products?
- How can the mixed methods study be designed to maximize the potential for synergy among the different types of data?
- Conceptual, theoretical, and/or logic models as roadmaps to set the stage for and guide integration
- How can the model—and the language of the model—be developed to reflect interdisciplinary inputs?
- Analytic strategies that advance frameworks and dynamic processes of connecting, building, merging, embedding, and bridging.
For example:- The power and role of using data displays and visual diagramming during the analytic process
- How can tensions in mixed methods results be addressed creatively, to foster meaningful products?
