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Multimethod research
- 1. Multimethod (Mixed) Research CDIS 600
Editor's Notes
- Hi everyone. In this mini-lecture I’m going to present for you a brief discussion of multimethod or mixed methods research. This will be an overview of this topic and won’t cover all aspects of mixed designs, so if this topic interests you, I recommend that you track down some of the resources I provide toward the end of the presentation to help you to learn more.
- When we talk about mixed methods which is also synonymous with multimethod research, we’re talking about a mixture of quantitative and qualitative approaches to research. The important thing to note is that there are many ways to mix qualitative and quantitative elements within a single study or even across studies on a given topic. So for example, a researcher could have a qualitative research question and a quantitative research question in the same study, or that researcher could do two separate studies, in which a qualitative study is conducted and then a quantitative study is conducted, or vice versa.
- So why would anyone want to conduct mixed methods research? First, let’s start by examining why some people would argue for and against mixing methods. Some researchers are purists who believe that by mixing methods you don’t get the best of both types of approaches, but instead you get a study which has neither the strict controls of quantitative research nor the credibility of qualitative research. So to be a good mixed methods researcher, you must be willing to take a pragmatic approach in which you use the best method or combination of methods which will answer your research questions. If you use a mixed method approach, you will need to defend why this design is better than a single quantitative or qualitative method. As we will see, there are many ways of mixing qualitative and quantitative components, so whichever combination you chose you will want to make sure that the quantitative and qualitative components complement each other.
- I’ve listed here some of the strengths of mixed methods research paradigms. Typically we say that quantitative designs allow researchers to gather data from lots of people, and gain a broad perspective on an issue, whereas qualitative designs allow researchers to gain an in-depth understanding of an issue. When quantitative and qualitative approaches are combined, numerical quantitative data and subjective qualitative data complement each other and give both a broad and deep understanding of a topic. By triangulating qualitative and quantitative methods, researchers can be more confident in their conclusions, and can also begin to generalize the results of their study.
- But there are some weaknesses to mixed methods designs. In many ways they are harder to implement, and can take a lot of time. Whereas a solely quantitative or qualitative design may be pretty straightforward, a researcher who conducts mixed method research may have to plan numerous phases or stages into a single study. It also takes more time and skill to analyze multiple data sets and to draw conclusions which support both the qualitative and quantitative data.
- There are lots of ways that a researcher can mix methods. There are often stages in a mixed methods study, in which first one type of research is used, and then another (so qualitative methods and then quantitative methods, for example). The nature of the research question may dictate a particular type of sequencing of qualitative and quantitative design elements. For example, in an explanatory design, the researcher would first gather quantitative data, perhaps by administering a Likert survey. But after gathering and analyzing the quantitative data, the researcher may feel that he or she wants to develop a deeper understanding of participants’ survey responses. So in an explanatory design, this researcher would then conduct and analyze qualitative interviews to gain a better understanding of participants’ survey responses. In this case the qualitative data may help to explain the quantitative data. Another popular mixed method design is the exploratory design, in which qualitative data collection and analysis is followed by quantitative data collection and analysis. In this case, qualitative interviews could be used to develop a quantitative survey. The researcher in an exploratory design conducts qualitative research to explore which topics are worthy of further study by collecting quantitative data from a larger group of participants. It’s also possible to conduct concurrent qualitative and quantitative studies, as well as a variety of other types of designs. For more information, see Tashakorri & Teddlie’s Handbook of Mixed Methods, which gives a very thorough discussion of the types of mixed methods designs and in what cases you would use them. I’ve also given you a figure from an article I wrote, which gives details about how the qualitative and quantitative approaches are mixed at various points throughout the study.
- So in summary, mixed methods designs are best when you can establish a clear rationale for why using a single method will not effectively answer your research questions. There are many designs to chose from, so when you come across a mixed methods study, you should review the checklist your textbook authors’ provide in order to see if the researcher’s design choices are valid. Finally, if you are interested in mixed methods research, you’ll want to seek out other resources beyond your textbook for a comprehensive review of your design options.