Mixed Methods Research

Introduction

Mixed methods research is a research approach that combines both quantitative and qualitative research methods within a single study. It involves collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data using numerical and narrative techniques to understand a research problem or question comprehensively.

Mixed methods research typically involves three phases:

• The first phase is data collection, where quantitative and qualitative data are collected using various methods, such as surveys, interviews, focus groups, observations, and document analysis.
• The second phase is data analysis, where both quantitative and qualitative data are analyzed separately and then integrated to provide a complete understanding of the research problem. This phase often involves using statistical analysis for the quantitative data and thematic analysis for the qualitative data.
• The third phase is interpretation and reporting, where the findings from the analysis are synthesized and presented in a way that provides a comprehensive understanding of the research problem. This phase involves interpreting the quantitative and qualitative data results and synthesizing them into a coherent and meaningful narrative.

Mixed methods research has become increasingly popular in recent years as it offers researchers a more comprehensive and nuanced understanding of complex research problems. By combining both quantitative and qualitative research methods, researchers can address the limitations of each approach and provide a complete understanding of the research problem or question.

When to use mixed methods research

Mixed methods research may be the best option if your research process indicates that quantitative or qualitative data alone will not adequately answer your research issue. There are numerous typical motivations for conducting mixed-methods research:

• Generalizability: Qualitative research often has a lower sample size and is not generalizable. The comparative strength of “large N,” externally verified quantitative research, addresses this comparative deficit in mixed methods research.
• Contextualization: Mixing approaches helps you to contextualize your data and provide more information to your conclusions. Using qualitative data to demonstrate quantitative conclusions can assist in ” placing meat on the bones” of your study.
• Credibility: Using diverse approaches to collect data on the same issue might increase the credibility of your findings. The convergence of qualitative and quantitative data improves the validity of your judgments. This is known as triangulation.

Advantages of mixed methods research

Best of both worlds analysis

When you combine the two forms of data, you get comprehensive, externally valid insights into quantitative data, contextualized insights into qualitative data and generalizable. The advantages of one form of data frequently outweigh the disadvantages.

Method flexibility

Disciplines and well-established research paradigms less bind mixed methods research. They allow you to integrate parts of multiple types of studies to extract the most informative data, giving you greater freedom in planning your study.

Disadvantages of mixed methods research

Workload

Mixed methods research is extremely time-consuming. Collecting, evaluating, and synthesizing two types of data into a single study result takes a significant amount of time and effort, and it frequently requires the collaboration of interdisciplinary teams of researchers rather than individuals. As a result, mixed methods research has the potential to be substantially more expensive than alone investigations.

Differing or conflicting results

If your analysis produces contradictory results, it might not be easy to know how to interpret them in a mixed methods study. For example, it might be challenging to know how to proceed if the quantitative and qualitative results do not concur or if you are concerned about confounding variables.

References

1. Halcomb, Elizabeth J., and Louise Hickman. “Mixed methods research.” (2015): 41.