Mixed research methods.
The essential goal of mixed methods research is to tackle a given research question from any relevant angle, making use where appropriate of previous research and/or more than one type of investigative perspective.
Sometimes referred to as mixed methodology, multiple methodology or multi-methodology research, mixed methods research offers you the best of both worlds: the in-depth, contextualized, and natural but more time-consuming insights of qualitative research coupled with the more-efficient but less rich or compelling predictive power of quantitative research.
These approaches are far more comprehensive than attacking a problem from only one point of view and, with the emergence of strategies and tools for blending these different types of data, allow for the crossing of disciplinary boundaries like never before.
Anyone who wants or needs to tackle a research challenge from two or more perspectives (by deliberate choice or out of practical necessity) will benefit from a mixed methods approach. Mixed methods research has been employed with real success in every people-focused discipline, from psychology and sociology to education and health care to human resources and marketing.
How to do mixed research methods.
- define the challenge
- collect the appropriate data from any relevant source to develop and test hypotheses
- rigorously examine those data for obvious and hidden patterns
- analyze your findings
- present your results for peer review and audience education.
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