Mixed Methods

Question 1

What is the incompatibility thesis?

Answer 1

The argument that qualitative and quantitative are incompatible with one another

Question 2

What are the two different stances on epistemology between qualitative and quantitative?

Answer 2

•Positivism
-produce objective knowledge, precise empirical observations/causal laws to predict human actvity
• Interpretivism
-Reality=constructed through meaning/understanding-study of social life

Question 3

What is the qualitative/quantitative divide in terms of epistemological position, research/subject, research focus, scope of findings, nature of data?

Answer 3

• Quantitative:
- Objectivist, distant/outsider, facts, nomothetic, numbers
• Qualitative
- Constructivist, close/insider, meanings, ideographic, text

Question 4

What is the basis of a mixed-methods approach?

Answer 4

• Pragmatic approach suggesting that quantitative/qualitative methods can be combined
• Methodological integration - utilises the strengths of both

Question 5

What is the epistemological divide?

Answer 5

Considered by some to be the most serious ‘divide’

Two approaches philosophically irreconcilable

Question 6

What is the mixed-method solution of the epistemological divide?

Answer 6

•Qual’ can be used to understand the human experience
•Quant’ measures provide a way of measuring this experience
➢ This distinction between ‘lived experience’ and ‘measure’ reconciles the phenomenon of study to its respective method and paradigm (Sale et al., 2002).
•Macro and micro understanding

Question 7

What is the researcher and participant divide?

Answer 7

Quant- objective researcher aiming to reduce bias

Qual-subjective and that the researcher influences the production of knowledge

Question 8

What is the mixed method solution to the researcher/participant divide?

Answer 8

•Reflexivity-pragmatic strategy to limit bias
-Distinct feature of qualitative research
-To make explicit the research process
•Personal reflexivity
-Acknowledging who you are and how personal
interests influence the research process

Question 9

What is the research focus divide?

Answer 9

• Quantitative research concentrates on gathering ‘facts’ which underpin ‘truth’ / generalisation
• Qualitative researchers believe ‘truth’ and ‘meaning’ are constructe through peoples interactions with the world

Question 10

What is the mixed-methods solution to the research focus divide?

Answer 10

Multi-faceted nature of reality

e.g. injury requires medical facts but also qualittaive element of personal experience

Question 11

What is the scope of findings divide?

Answer 11

Quantitative research regarded as nomothetic
• General laws – large groups
• Law like findings that hold irrespective of time e.g. broken bone facts stay the same
Qualitative research regarded as ideographic
• Personal, each individual is unique e.g. experience of child breaking arm could be very different to 50 yr old
• Findings located in specific time periods

Question 12

What is the mixed-methods solution to the scope of findings divide?

Answer 12

• A pragmatic view that both nomothetic an ideographic findings of a research will produce a more holistic view finding
• E.g. better findings to support individuals

Question 13

What is the nature of data divide? and mixed solution

Answer 13

The nature of data is different
- Numbers vs words / images
but…
analysis of both seeks patterns

Question 14

Explain mixed methods

Answer 14

• A third methodological movement-allows researchers to see from anew angle
• Practice of collecting, analysing and integrating qual/quant data in a single study
• holistic understanding of a phenomenon
• Inductive (identifying patterns through experience so qual) and deductive (theory testing so quant) approaches

Question 15

What are the six main types of mixed-methods research?

Answer 15

• Sequential Explanatory
• Sequential Exploratory
• Sequential Transformative
• Concurrent Triangulation
• Concurrent Nested
• Concurrent Transformative
• Complementary

Question 16

What is sequential explanatory?

Answer 16

• Quantitative data is collected and analysed first
• Qualitative data is then collected and analysed
• QUANT–qual (more weight to the quant part)
• The qualitative data add depth to the quantitative findings
• Integration of the findings occurs at the interpretation stage

Question 17

What is sequential exploratory?

Answer 17

• Gives priority to qualitative data
• QUAL - quant (more weight to the qual part)
• The quantitative data test the emerging theory
OR
• The results from one method are used to inform the development of the second
- Interviews/focus groups to inform development of a quantitative questionnaire

Question 18

What is sequential transformative?

Answer 18

• Priority can be given to either qual or quant data
• Research is guided by a particular theoretical perspective
• design is more appealing to researchers who work under theoretical perspectives, such as advocacy, participatory, and critical theory.
• Aim of the research is to create change (e.g. in attitudes, policy).-rarely used in sport

Question 19

What is concurrent triangulation?

Answer 19

• Triangulation pioneered the use of mixed methods
Different methods used concurrently
• Main purpose - the weaknesses of one approach are
addressed through the strengths of another
•Increased validity
•most used

Question 20

What is concurrent nested?

Answer 20

•Researchers embed one method within another - the nested method can enrich the other
• E.g. a questionnaire with embedded open questions e.g. likert and then asks give a reason for your answer
•Purpose to address a different question than the dominant or to seek information from different levels.
•The dominant method forms the framework for the study
•Can be difficult to integrate the two models to make
coherent
•Can add ‘real life’ context not possible if only one method used
• needs great skill

Question 21

What is the complementary method?

Answer 21

• Qualitative and Quantitative methods measure overlapping but different elements of a phenomenon
• Not triangulation
• Different methods to study the same phenomenon

Question 22

What are the disadvantages of mixed methods?

Answer 22

Methodological divide – how to address conflict in perspectives?
Writing up can be difficult
• Which findings get primacy?difficult to balance
• How are they integrated?in writing up(often not)
• Different methodological language-scientific vs descriptive
Lack of expertise in one or other method
• Researcher specialisation (solution is to create specialist teams)
Different approaches to ensuring / establishing validity

Question 23

What are the advantages of mixed methods?

Answer 23

• Qual & quant limitations can be supplemented by strengths of the other

• use all the tools available to them and collect more
comprehensive data - broader perspective of the problem.
• More valid approach – robust support for findings
• Mixed methods combines inductive and deductive
thinking and reasoning.
• Combining methodologies helps to reduce researcher bias

Question 24

What are the steps in mixed-method research?

Answer 24

• Decide if mixed is appropriate
• justify approach
• choose preference of qual or quant
• sample selection method
• data collection varies depending on concurrent or sequential
• analysis of data
• interpretation using qual and quant

Question 25

mixed method design choice

Answer 25

• inductive or deductive
• which method and order of methods e.g. sequential or concurrent etc
•

Question 26

weakness of sequential designs?

Answer 26

time-consuming