Post your response to the question, “To what extent is mixed methods research simply taking a quantitative design and a qualitative design and putting them together?”

Mixed methods research originated in the social sciences and its procedures have been developed and refined to suit a wide variety of research questions (Creswell and Plano Clark, 2011). It is often referred to as the “third wave” or third research movement, a movement that moves past the paradigm wars by offering a logical and practical alternative. Along the same line of thinking, Mixed methods research can be defined as the class of research where the researcher mixes or combines quantitative and qualitative research techniques, methods, approaches, concepts, or language into a single study (Johnson & Onwuegbuzie, 2004). In essence, it is a more inclusive approach that allows researchers multiple avenues to address the research questions. In fact, many research questions and combinations of questions are best and most fully answered through mixed research solutions (Johnson & Onwuegbuzie, 2004).

There are several reasons for using mixed methods in health science research. Researchers may seek to view problems from multiple perspectives to enhance and enrich the meaning of a singular perspective. They also may want to contextualize information, to take a macro picture of a system (e.g., a hospital) and add in information about individuals (e.g., working at different levels in the hospital). Other reasons include to merge quantitative and qualitative data to develop a more complete understanding of a problem; to develop a complementary picture; to compare, validate, or triangulate results; to provide illustrations of context for trends, or to examine processes/experiences along with outcomes (Plano Clark, 2010)

Next, explain the types of research questions best served by mixed methods research. Then, explain one strength and one limitation of mixed methods research.

As mentioned previously, justification to mix both types of methods and data are that neither quantitative nor qualitative methods could adequately within themselves cover the scopes and depths of the questions on “what”, “how” and “why” (Fung & Siow, 2013). In a mixed-methods study, researchers typically delineate research questions that pertain specifically to the analysis of quantitative data and ones that pertain specifically to the analysis of qualitative data. It is possible also to add research questions that can be answered by the combination of the interpretations of both kinds of analysis (Stanford University, n.d.).

Using a mixed methods study has several advantages. One of the most obvious strengths of this method is the fact that it provides methodological flexibility. Mixed methods have great flexibility and are adaptable to many study designs, such as observational studies and randomized trials, to elucidate more information than can be obtained in only quantitative research (Wisdom & Creswell, 2013). However, this method also has some limitations to include among others the fact that it requires increased resources. Mixed methods studies are labor-intensive and require greater resources and time than those needed to conduct a single method study (Wisdom & Creswell, 2013).

Finally, provide a rationale for or against the utility of mixed methods research in your discipline.

In the field of public health/epidemiology, the quantitative approach has allowed researchers to understand health problems (what) and for computing the magnitude of health problems according to time, place, and person characteristics (when, where, and who) as well as for determining the causes of these problems (why and how). Whereas, the qualitative paradigm allows them to develop an in-depth understanding of the social phenomenon, that is, why and how of human behavior or decision making, rather than finding out only the what, when, where, and who aspects of the behavior, by using research methods which rely more on unstructured interviews, focus group discussion (FGD), case study, participant observation, etc. (Kaur, 2016).

In the recent past, public health has witnessed a paradigm shift from only delivering the interventions to understanding the health behavior of people, especially to prioritize options on how the risk behaviors can be addressed to reduce harm. Mixed method research approach may provide some directions in this regard for formulation and evaluation of health communication strategy. Putting the knowledge into practice or translational or implementation research to enhance health equity, that is, reducing health status differences between and within population groups, is another area where mixed method research can lead to formulation of policies that enhance access to effective care by provision of user-friendly public health services to those who need it most (Kaur, 2016).

References

Creswell, J. W., & Clark, V. L. (2011). Designing and conducting mixed methods research. SAGE.

Fung, H. P., & Siow, H. L. (2013). Relationship between team satisfaction and project performance as perceived by project managers in Malaysia – A mixed methods study. Open Journal of Social Science Research, 1(9), 238. https://doi.org/10.12966/ojssr.12.02.2013

Johnson, R. B., & Onwuegbuzie, A. J. (2004). Mixed methods research: A research paradigm whose time has come. Educational Researcher, 33(7), 14-26. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189×033007014

Kaur, M. (2016). Application of mixed method approach in public health research. Indian Journal of Community Medicine, 41(2), 93. https://doi.org/10.4103/0970-0218.173495

Plano Clark, V. L. (2010). The adoption and practice of mixed methods: U.S. trends in Federally funded health-related research. Qualitative Inquiry, 16(6), 428-440. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077800410364609

Stanford University. (n.d.). Mixed-methods research. https://tomprof.stanford.edu/posting/1554

Wisdom, J., & Creswell, J. W. (2013). Mixed methods: Integrating quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis while studying patient-centered medical home models. PCMH Resource Center. https://pcmh.ahrq.gov/page/mixed-methods-integrating-quantitative-and-qualitative-data-collection-and-analysis-while

2 days ago

Athena Coleman

Mixed research wk 9

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