Library Homepage: Understanding Scholarly/Academic Research: Mixed Methods

What are Mixed Methods?

Mixed Methods:

the research approach where researchers collect and analyze both qualitative and quantitative data within the same study
this method has been growing in popularity due to the increasing complexity of healthcare delivery
draws on potential strengths of both types of research methods
allows researchers to explore diverse perspectives and uncover relationships that exist between the layers of multi-faceted research questions

Explanatory Sequential	Quantitative data are collected and analyzed first, then qualitative data are collected and analyzed to help explain the quantitative data e.g. A national survey of new RNs is undertaken, then personal interviews with 15-20 new RNs are completed
Exploratory Sequential	Qualitative data are collected and analyzed first, then quantitative data is used to text findings empirically e.g. focus group data identifies trends, then a national survey is created based on the data
Parallel	Qualitative and quantitative data collected and analyzed at the same time focus groups and interviews with random selection of participants occurs at the same time as national survey
Nested	can be either qualitative or quantitative main design with the alternative paradigm embedded within the study to answer an complementary question e.g. online questionnaire with an interview embedded