Mixed Methods Research Quotes

The Matrix is a system, Neo. That system is our enemy. But when you're inside, you look around, what do you see? Businessmen, teachers, lawyers, carpenters. The very minds of the people we are trying to save. But until we do, these people are still a part of that system and that makes them our enemy. You have to understand, most of these people are not ready to be unplugged. And many of them are so inured, so hopelessly dependent on the system, that they will fight to protect it. The Matrix, 1999

Having pioneered modern synastry astrology, I define it as a mixed-methodology design that is used to accurately analyse relationships; combining both the Vedic Sidereal and Western Tropical methods.

To me, a ‘mixed methods approach’ is a philosophy rather than an approach

One type of nonexperimental quantitative research is causal-comparative research in which the investigator compares two or more groups in terms of a cause (or independent variable) that has already happened.

I often tell people to tamp down their excitement about data exhaust because none of these data are actually designed for falsifiability in mind—it’s simply the detritus of our digital lives. Just because we have more data doesn’t mean we are doing better research. We are drowning in an endless sea of data, yet we are stuck in an insight desert

Non-ethnographers may dismiss ethnography altogether, believing it to lack predictive power, which they take to be the sole purpose of research.

other words, some falsely believe that ethnography can provide coherence and participant focus but cannot provide scale or causation.

Mario Luis Small’s excellent summary

How To Conduct A Mixed Methods Study,” which I draw from heavily (Small, 2011),

book Research Design: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches (J. W. Cresswell, 1994), or his work Designing and Conducting Mixed Methods Research co-authored with Ann Carroll Klassen, Vicki Plano Clark, and Katherine Clegg Smith (2007), or his short paper focusing on health research specifically (J. Cresswell, Klassen, Plano Clark, & Clegg Smith, 2011).

narrative analysis, a research method that dissects stories and focuses less on what happened and more on how individuals come to make sense of what happened

invisible and subjective process whereby humans understand and synthesize disparate events, settings and people, instead of just the empirical facts of the events themselves.

the becoming story, cognitions are almost equally likely to send ties [to other story elements] as to receive them [from other story elements], while in the being story, cognitions are almost always the consequence of a prior element. Substantively, this reveals that cognitions play a crucial role in motivating the narrative of becoming… Being a Nazi induces the absence of self-reflexivity (Bearman

Methodologists such as Bryman (2006) would call this “complementarity” or the “elaboration, enhancement, illustration, clarification of the results, from one method with the results from another” (Bryman, 2006, p. 105).

Once a person “is” a Nazi, they are no longer reflecting on their lives, making it much harder for them to question their identity. This

The word empirical simply refers to direct observation, so quant data can be subjective or empirical, and qual data can be either subjective or empirical.

Figure 2: Empirical and Perception-based Qualitative and Quantitative Research

Mixed methods research is a research design with philosophical assumptions as well as methods of inquiry. As a methodology, it involves philosophical assumptions that guide the direction of the collection and analysis of data and the mixture of qualitative and quantitative approaches in many phases of the research process (J. W. Cresswell & Plano Clark, 2007, p. 5).

At their core, these two approaches have differing belief systems about how knowledge is created (epistemology) and even more fundamentally, about what is reality itself (ontology). The

Table 1: Ontology and Epistemology of Qual and Quant Research

Quantitative researchers focus more on scale and causation, and like to have replicability and precise measurement. This differs significantly from qualitative researchers, who concern themselves with describing richness of context, the nature of change, and having empathy for participants.

unconsciously held objectivist ontology. If they stop focusing solely on scale and causation, and focus instead on coherence and customers, they begin to feel better equipped to make decisions about their products or services. However, most people are simply unaware that there is a qualitative, inductive logic that is just as legitimate as a quantitative, deductive method.

to focus on scale and causation. Designers develop an agile mind to easily flip between divergence and convergence. Likewise, researchers must develop this same agility to flip between qualitative and quantitative. Innovation expert and management theorist Roger Martin called this the “opposable mind,” (Martin, 2007) and noted it is abductive logic (not deductive or inductive) that characterizes

Describe the workarounds they employ to complete certain tasks. Lay bare their thoughts, dreams, motivations and hidden beliefs that explain why they are not making so-called rational choices.

Hammersley (2014) suggests that qualitative researchers aim to describe causation in one of two ways: 1. Create plausible models of causation using imaginative tools like metaphors literary devices, and thought experiments to explain how a thing might work in many different contexts, in abstract language 2. Conduct a deep analysis of observed, empirical data to generate

explanatory concepts that can later be tested quantitatively

qual and quant researchers provide all the benefits of their primary approach, plus some of the benefits of their secondary approach, stakeholders will become sophisticated customers of research, and the entire organization will become more attuned to both the objectivist

But at the very least, give them more than boring charts, graphs and numbers. Introduce some character and plot and attempt to paint a holistic picture.

The typical practical reasons why you might choose to mix methods include: 1. Time does not permit in-depth qualitative research 2. Time does not permit in-depth quantitative research 3. Negotiating access to participants is challenging 4. Finding a large data set is challenging

In his summary of mixed methods, Bryman (2006) outlines five methodological reasons for mixing methods:  1. Complementarity: deepen or enhance other data 2. Expansion: expanding the inquiry to ask different questions 3. Development: use one method to inform and improve the other 4. Triangulation: corroboration of earlier data 5. Initiation: resolving earlier contradictory findings

Figure 5: Cresswell and Plano Clark’s 3-type Model of How to Mix Qual and Quant Data

Project Kick-off and Framing

continually draw stakeholders’ attention back to that shared understanding by using the artifact as a touchstone. As

Shared beliefs and the artifacts that symbolize them are a key component to effective collaboration.

Your stakeholders may be accustomed to issuing orders to research teams and may occasionally enjoy upbraiding them for not following them. Setting aside time for stakeholder needs disrupts this pattern and instead sets the tone as one of listening and responding as a consulting expert.

uncovered 116 unanswered research questions and made sure everyone knew how long that list was.

estimate how long it might take to answer each question, and it will quickly become clear how much of a backlog of work

Framing Your Approach: Inductive or Deductive Frame?

Research leaders should help stakeholders understand the nature of asking deductive or inductive questions, the trade-offs each represent, and some strategies to mitigate any shortcomings of choosing one approach over the other.

They honestly may not know that deductive reasoning will result in narrow results, or that inductive reasoning will yield durable insights, useful beyond a

Help your stakeholders sharpen their deductive questions into falsifiable statements, which can then be proven true or false.

so therefore it is true. By contrast, an inductive study will start with very open-ended questions like, “What is going on in our organization? How are employees feeling? What are their concerns, if any?” Such a study seeks to understand, “What is important?

the ideal inductive approach, you will not have any prior beliefs about gender and its effects. In Strauss and Corbin’s famous description, “The researcher begins with an area of study and allows the theory to emerge from the data

You can see how this inductive approach is squarely focused on the participants themselves. In your inductive study,

less satisfied with work than women. In the end, the data tell you the general, explanatory patterns of gendered experience at work.

quantitative research will measure pervasiveness of things we already know, and qualitative research will uncover things we don’t know much about.

Social Infrastructure: Preparing Teams for Mixed Methods

VUCA organizations move quickly, and often must make decisions with incomplete information.

being wrong is not grounds for dismissal, but the natural outcome of trying new things.

Build this social infrastructure by managing stakeholder expectations.

to place each finding along a spectrum of “useful” to “not useful.” They can also discuss how each finding might make them feel, or what implications it might have.

Having such dry-run experiences will prepare your stakeholders for the reactions they might have,

In the research design phase of the project, your fundamental goal is set yourself up to make analysis and reporting as straightforward as possible.

I am surprised at how often researchers fail to draft a title early in the development of their projects. In my opinion, the working or draft title becomes a major road sign in research—a tangible idea that the researcher can keep refocusing on and changing as the project goes on (see Glesne & Peshkin, 1992).

Good, sound research projects begin with straightforward, uncomplicated thoughts that are easy to read and understand.