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COMMENTARY: Using mixed methods in research studies: An opportunity

with its challenges

Article in International Journal of Multiple Research Approaches · December 2010

DOI: 10.5172/mra.2010.4.3.186

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 Copyright © eContent Management Pty Ltd. International Journal of Multiple Research Approaches (2010) 4: 186–191.

COMMENTARY
Using mixed methods in research
studies: An opportunity with its
challenges
KEYVAN SALEHI
PhD Candidate, Department of Educational Measurement and Evaluation, Faculty of Psychology
and Education, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

NAHID GOLAFSHANI
Professor of Math and Technology Education, School of Education (English), Laurentian University,
Sudbury, ON, Canada

ABSTRACT
Changes in first and second movements in research methodology led to emergence and develop-
ment of quantitative and qualitative research methods. Second movement in research methodology
emerged with an objective of rectifying certain shortfalls in the first movement; however, the second
movement, itself, was not exempt from some shortfalls. These have led to the emergence of the
third methodological movement which resulted in the birth of mixed methods research. Researchers
are finding this movement to be a new opportunity to study complex phenomenon. They are also
finding that the new opportunity comes with its own challenges. Some of the currently discussed
challenges among educational researchers are philosophical and epistemological aspects of mixed
methods research.

Keywords: mixed method research, triangulation, qualitative, quantitative, methodology

INTRODUCTION individual’s personal experiences (Polit & Beck,

T he first and second movements in research

methodologies have led to the emergence of
quantitative and qualitative research methods,
2006).
With the advent of the second movement in
research methodology, some shortfalls of the first
respectively. Often quantitative research pre- methodological movement were rectified. Despite
pares necessary background for drawing a gen- the refinement of certain shortfalls in quantitative
eral conclusion or result such as humans’ social research, qualitative research was not exempt from
patterns (Denzin & Lincoln, 1994; Neuman, shortfalls either (Cameron & Miller, 2007). Some
2000; Rocco, Bliss, Gallagher, & Perez-Prado, prevalent weaknesses of the latter research method
2003; Williams & May, 1996) while qualitative are: lack of attention to quantitative aspect of phe-
research is found to be beneficial for different nomenon (Bazargan, 2007), limited possibility
exploration and interpretations of data such as to generalize some findings (Denzin & Lincoln,

186 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MULTIPLE RESEARCH APPROACHES Volume 4, Issue 3, December 2010
 Using mixed methods in research studies

2004; Husen, 1997), and some limitations in such as human’s social patterns, using deductive
performing qualitative research (Neuman, 1997, logic. Qualitative method deals with interpreta-
2000; Williams, 1996). Each of these constraints tion and exploration which guide researchers to
can hinder a full comprehension of an interesting understand and explain events and occurrences,
research study or an existing phenomenon. such as humans’ phenomenon from the social
Surely, both quantitative and qualitative meth- patterns. The combination of the last two meth-
ods hold some weak and strong components in ods is a foundation for developing mixed methods
research methodologies and Kelle (2006) suggests research which has been called as an ‘evolution of
the integration of the two methods. Combining research methodology’ (Creswell & Garrett, 2008,
the two types of methods along with orches- p. 322). This combination allows for the integra-
trating necessary conditions to maximize the tion of data collection and analysis techniques
potency in one hand and minimize weaknesses of both quantitative and qualitative methods
in the other hand can contribute immensely in in either parallel or sequential stages (Creswell,
the analysis and comprehension of phenom- 2003; Tashakkori & Teddlie, 2003).
enon. The choice of a research method is very The philosophical foundation for mixed
influential in determining how a researcher con- methods research is pragmatism (Andrew &
ducts a research. It has an enormous impact on Halcomb, 2007; Cameron, 2009; Morgan, 2007).
the data collections and analysis of the research Pragmatism accepts the use of multiple methods
study. Thus familiarity with a research method in one study and emphasizes the relevant research
and, in particular, with the nature the mixed questions and reliable findings or correct answers
methods and its applied objectives are essential to the questions (Tashakkori & Teddlie, 2003). In
in conducting a strong research study. However, other words, it is the research questions that define
the absence of enough attention toward mixed a good research study rather than only its selected
methods research due to its perceived complex- method or paradigm. Thus using both qualitative
ity is documented by some researchers (Creswell and quantitative methods on one study will serve
& Plano Clark, 2007) and this calls for more these principles.
awareness of such method. Andrew and Halcomb (2007) state that there
are six documented purposes for using mixed
OVERVIEW OF MIXED METHODS methods design. The following summarizes the
RESEARCH purposes and provides a brief definition for each
In today’s fast evolving social phenomenon, the purpose:
scholars and educational researchers are address-
ing more complex research problems than before. Triangulation
They are looking into developing new methods, It is ‘a validity procedure where researchers search
as tools, to conduct reliable and valid complex for convergence among multiple and different
research and to lessen the effects of the shortfalls of sources of information to form themes or catego-
the old research methods. Thus the emergence of ries in a study’ (Creswell & Miller, 2000, p. 126).
the third methodological movement, mixed meth- In addition, triangulation is a partnership among
ods, was inevitable (Cameron, 2009; Cameron & different methods in collecting data and confirm-
Miller, 2007). Mixed methods research involves ing results in one study.
both quantitative and qualitative methodolo-
gies (Hanson et al. 2005; Tashakkori & Teddlie, Complementarity
1998). Quantitative method includes numerical The application of triangulation in research yields
values and measurement which help research- to complementarity of the mixed methods when
ers to describe and determine some patterns, quantitative methods can ‘further develop findings

Volume 4, Issue 3, December 2010 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MULTIPLE RESEARCH APPROACHES 187
 Keyvan Salehi and Nahid Golafshani

derived from qualitative methods and vice versa’ Enhance significant findings
(Risjord, Dunbar, & Moloney, 2002, p. 269). It It is to signify the findings from one method of
is about how different methods can complement data collection by exploring them from another
each other while they are used in one study. For method of data collection (Onwuegbuzie &
example, if quantitative methods are used in a Leech, 2004). Although the last two purposes
study to collect data then qualitative methods can of mixed methods are very similar, there exists a
be used in the same study to illustrate or explain delicate difference between them. In expansion,
the results of the study. both quantitative and qualitative methods are
used to collect more details and data in the differ-
Development ent stages of studying a phenomenon (Creswell,
It is that one method shapes subsequent methods Clark, Gutmann, & Hanson, 2003) but in the
or that the results through one method are used latter, researchers try to enhance significant find-
to inform the development of another method in ings of one method by another data collection
the same study (Flemming, Adamson, & Atkin, method. In particular, findings from qualitative
2008). It occurs when a researcher applies the methods can be signified by findings from quan-
results obtained from quantitative methods to titative methods in the same study while the two
develop qualitative methods or vice versa. methods independently give different perspectives
to the phenomenon being studied.
Initiation It is noteworthy to state that the design of
It follows the complementarity purpose of mixed mixed methods plays an important role on how to
method that different methods are used to inves- implement the above purposes in the methodology
tigate the same phenomenon from different per- of a research study, which depends on the objec-
spectives. The main purpose of initiation is to tive and the questions of the research.
raise new research questions or challenge results
obtained through one method. This may yield to CHALLENGES IN USING MIXED METHODS
an exploration of opposite results, contradictions RESEARCH
and new hypotheses by applying the findings The development of mixed methods did not
through different methods, namely, quantita- happen without some debate. Some research-
tive and qualitative. In initiation, a simultaneous ers are debating on the issues of incompatibil-
application of quantitative and qualitative meth- ity and impossibility if both quantitative and
ods is for researchers to access fresh insights about qualitative research methods are to be applied
the in hand phenomenon (Rocco et al., 2003). in one study (Foss & Ellefsen, 2002). Another
researcher argues that data gathered using mixed
Expansion methods can be put together to form a better
It is to use different methods to examine differ- picture of the study (Begley, 1996). However,
ent phenomena to expand the study for other they all agree that using multiple methods will
opportunities or possibilities. This will provide increase the accuracy of the results of a research
depth and detail to the study by exploring specific study (Begley, 1996; Foss & Ellefsen, 2002;
aspects of each method. In the case of simulta- Risjord et al., 2002; Halcomb & Andrew,
neous application of quantitative and qualitative 2005) and the tendency to combine quantita-
methods in one study, collecting different and tive and qualitative methods is becoming more
various elements is to ‘extend the breadth and prevalent in research methodologies in the area
range of the study’ (Cited in Rocco et al., 2003, of humanistic and social sciences (Andrew &
p. 23) which is one of the main objectives of Halcomb, 2007; Cameron, 2009; Cameron &
researchers. Miller, 2007).

188 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MULTIPLE RESEARCH APPROACHES Volume 4, Issue 3, December 2010
 Using mixed methods in research studies

Although educational researchers consider In general, combining different methodolo-

mixed methods as an opportunity to address gies in one study is not an easy task. In particu-
complex research problems, the debate contin- lar, mixing quantifying and qualifying methods
ues and remains very much current (Creswell & is complex because each paradigm has different
Garrett, 2008) and opens a door for a discussion epistemological and philosophical frameworks.
about the challenges of using mixed methods in The concerns include whether the assumptions
a research study, which is the objective of this in each paradigm get the same value or attention
paper. in the study, and whether the data derived from
The debate starts at the root of mixed methods the two methodologies are ‘viewed as incommen-
research that the quantitative-qualitative dichot- surable’ (Foss & Ellefsen, 2002, p. 242). Even if
omy should remain intact because each method researchers give equal weight and value to both
has distinct assumptions about the phenomena methods by looking at each method as ‘partial
being studied (Dootson, 1995; Risjord, Dunbar, correctiveness’ to each other (Foss & Ellefsen,
Moloney, 2002) and thus different methods and 2002, p. 243), a challenging issue may arise if the
their findings must remain independent. findings through one method contradict the find-
Another challenge in the use of mixed meth- ings through the other method, making the value
ods facing some researchers is the change in their or the validity of one method questionable.
beliefs toward one method or about the dichotomy Another challenge is the lack of commonality
of the two methods, namely, qualitative and quan- in researchers’ standpoints about mixed methods
titative. According to Johnson and Onwuegbuzie research. Educational researchers’ multiple perspec-
(2004), qualitative advocates believe that construc- tives of mixed methods mark some confusion about
tivism, interpretation and the involvement of the the nature of the new methodology. Some believe
interviewer with the interviewees in a study are that mixed methods is to serve the quantitative par-
the components which make qualitative method adigm while leaving qualitative methods to second-
superior, while quantitative advocates believe ary or auxiliary status (Creswell et al., 2006; Denzin
that researchers should eliminate their biases by & Lincoln, 2005; Howe, 2004). Others view mixed
remaining emotionally detached and uninvolved methods from its technical stand point which
with object of the study. Thus the advocates of includes collection, analysis and interpretation of
both methods ‘view their paradigms as the ideal both quantitative and qualitative data in a study
for research’ (Johnson & Onwuegbuzie, 2004, p. ‘without being encumbered by philosophy or other
14). They also believe that the methods are not aspects of the research process’, namely, research
compatible and the associated techniques should questions (Creswell & Garrett, 2008, p. 326).
not be mixed. Historically, the disparity started If we acknowledge that most opportunities
in 1980s when qualitative methodologies gained come with their related challenges, then mixed
increasing momentum (Foss & Ellefsen, 2002) methods research, the recent trend in research
that made the advocates of quantitative method methodology, is no exception. The above chal-
concerned about the low frequency uses of quan- lenges in using mixed methods in research are the
tifying techniques in research areas. This also most heated discussions among researchers and
affected the relationships between the two meth- are continually evolving to provide stronger and
ods which have been referred to as ‘battlefields of more complete research methods for studying
wars’ (Tashakkori & Teddlie, 1998, p. 3) despite complex phenomena.
the fact that the key difference in the two meth-
ods lies in the ‘nature of data itself and researchers’ CONCLUDING REMARKS
attitude and treatment of data’ (Foss & Ellefsen, Although the benefits of mixed methods research
2002, p. 245). design have been acknowledged when applied

Volume 4, Issue 3, December 2010 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MULTIPLE RESEARCH APPROACHES 189
 Keyvan Salehi and Nahid Golafshani

in different areas and specifically in social sci- ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

ences, there seems to still be reluctance among I would like to express my deep sense of gratitude
researchers (Mactavish & Schleie, 2000) in to Prof. Abbas Bazargan for his useful lessons and
embracing such design. Such reluctance appears suggested resources, which helped me in complet-
to be associated with the challenges related to ing this paper.
the implementation of the mixed method to
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33(7), 14–26. Received 22 September 2009 Accepted 18 August 2010

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