Compar

ingQual
it
ati
ve,
Quant
it
ati
ve,
andMi
xedMet
hodsResear
ch

Mi
xed met
hods r
esear
ch i
sfor
mal
l
ydef
ined her
e as t
he cl
assofr
esear
ch wher
e
t
he r
esear
chermi
xes orcombi
nesquant
it
ati
veandqual
i
tat
iver
esear
cht
echni
ques,
met
hods,appr
oaches,concept
sorl
anguagei
nto asi
ngl
est
udy
.Phi
l
osophi
cal
l
y,i
tis
t
he "
thi
rd wav
e"ort
hir
dresear
ch mov
ement
,a mov
ementt
hatmov
espastt
he
par
adi
gm war
sbyof
fer
ingal
ogi
cal
andpr
act
ical
alt
ernat
ive.

Phi
l
osophi
cal
l
y,mi
xedr
esear
chmakesuseoft
hepr
agmat
icmet
hodandsy
stem of
phi
l
osophy
.It
slogi
cofi
nqui
ryi
ncl
udest
heuseofi
nduct
ion(
ordi
scov
eryofpat
ter
ns)
,
deduct
ion(
test
ingoft
heor
ies andhy
pot
heses)
,andabduct
ion(
uncov
eri
ngandr
ely
ing
ont
hebestofasetofexpl
anat
ionsf
orunder
standi
ngone'
sresul
ts)
.

Mi
xed met
hods r
esear
ch al
soi
s anat
temptt
olegi
ti
mat
etheuse ofmul
ti
ple
appr
oachesi
nanswer
ingr
esear
chquest
ions,r
athert
hanr
est
ri
cti
ngorconst
rai
ning
r
esear
cher
s'choi
ces(
i.
e.,
itr
eject
sdogmat
ism)
.Iti
sanexpansi
veandcr
eat
ivef
orm of
r
esear
ch,
notal
i
mit
ingf
orm ofr
esear
ch.I
tisi
ncl
usi
ve,
plur
ali
sti
c,andcompl
ement
ary
,
andi
tsuggest
sthatr
esear
cher
stakeanecl
ect
icappr
oacht
o met
hodsel
ect
ionand
t
he t
hinki
ng aboutand conductofr
esear
ch.Whati
s mostf
undament
ali
sthe
r
esear
chquest
ion-r
esear
ch met
hodsshoul
dfol
l
owr
esear
chquest
ionsi
n awayt
hat
of
fer
sthebestchancet
oobt
ainusef
ulanswer
.

I
n or
dert
omi
xresear
ch i
nan ef
fect
ive manner
,resear
cher
sfi
rstneedt
oconsi
der
al
loft
her
elev
antchar
act
eri
sti
csofquant
it
ati
veandqual
i
tat
iver
esear
ch.Forexampl
e,
t
hemaj
orchar
act
eri
sti
csoft
radi
ti
onalquant
it
ati
ver
esear
char
eaf
ocusondeduct
ion,
conf
ir
mat
ion,t
heor
y/hy
pot
hesi
stest
ing,expl
anat
ion,pr
edi
cti
on,st
andar
dized dat
a
col
lect
ion,
andst
ati
sti
cal
anal
ysi
s.

Themaj
orchar
act
eri
sti
csoft
radi
ti
onalqual
it
ati
ver
esear
char
einduct
ion,
discov
ery
,
expl
orat
ion, t
heor
y/ hy
pot
hesi
s gener
ati
on,t
he r
esear
cher as t
he pr
imar
y
"
inst
rument
"ofdat
acol
lect
ion,andqual
it
ati
veanal
ysi
s.

St
rengt
hsandWeaknessesofQuant
it
ati
veResear
ch
St
rengt
hs

 Test
ingandv
ali
dat
ingal
readyconst
ruct
edt
heor
iesabouthow (
andt
oal
esser
degr
ee,
why
)phenomenaoccur
.

 Test
inghy
pot
hesest
hatar
econst
ruct
edbef
oret
hedat
aar
ecol
l
ect
ed.

 Cangener
ali
zer
esear
chf
indi
ngswhent
hedat
aar
ebasedonr
andom sampl
es
ofsuf
fi
ci
entsi
ze.

 Cangener
ali
zear
esear
chf
indi
ngwheni
thasbeenr
epl
i
cat
edonmanydi
ff
erent
popul
ati
onsandsubpopul
ati
ons.

 Usef
ulf
orobt
aini
ngdat
athatal
l
owquant
it
ati
vepr
edi
cti
onst
obemade.

 The r
esear
chermay const
ructa si
tuat
ion t
hatel
i
minat
es t
he conf
oundi
ng
i
nfl
uenceofmanyv
ari
abl
es,al
l
owi
ngonet
omor
ecr
edi
blyassesscause-
and-
ef
fectr
elat
ionshi
ps.

 Dat
a col
l
ect
ion usi
ng some quant
it
ati
ve met
hods i
srel
ati
vel
y qui
ck (
e.g.
,
t
elephonei
nter
views)
.

 Pr
ovi
despr
eci
se,
quant
it
ati
ve,
numer
ical
dat
a.

 Dat
aanal
ysi
sisr
elat
ivel
ylesst
imeconsumi
ng(
usi
ngst
ati
sti
cal
sof
twar
e).

 Ther
esear
chr
esul
tsar
erel
ati
vel
yindependentoft
her
esear
cher(
e.g.
,ef
fectsi
ze,
st
ati
sti
cal
signi
fi
cance)
.

 I
tmayhav
ehi
ghercr
edi
bil
i
tywi
thmanypeopl
einpower(
e.g.
,admi
nist
rat
ors,
pol
i
tici
ans,
peopl
ewhof
undpr
ogr
ams)
.

 I
tisusef
ulf
orst
udy
ingl
argenumber
sofpeopl
e.

Weaknesses

 Ther
esear
cher
’scat
egor
iest
hatar
eusedmaynotr
efl
ectl
ocalconst
it
uenci
es’
under
standi
ngs.
  Ther
esear
cher
’st
heor
iest
hatar
eusedmaynotr
efl
ectl
ocalconst
it
uenci
es’
under
standi
ngs.

 Ther
esear
chermaymi
ssoutonphenomena occur
ri
ngbecause oft
he f
ocus
ont
heor
yorhy
pot
hesi
stest
ingr
athert
hanont
heor
yorhy
pot
hesi
s gener
ati
on
(
cal
l
edt
heconf
ir
mat
ionbi
as)
.

 Knowl
edgepr
oducedmaybet
ooabst
ractandgener
alf
ordi
rectappl
i
cat
iont
o
speci
fi
clocal
sit
uat
ions,
cont
ext
s,andi
ndi
vi
dual
s.

Qual
it
ati
ver
esear
ch

St
rengt
hs

 Thedat
aar
ebasedont
hepar
ti
cipant
s'owncat
egor
iesofmeani
ng.

 I
tisusef
ulf
orst
udy
ingal
i
mit
ednumberofcasesi
ndept
h.

 I
tisusef
ulf
ordescr
ibi
ngcompl
exphenomena.

 Pr
ovi
desi
ndi
vi
dual
casei
nfor
mat
ion.

 Canconductcr
oss-
casecompar
isonsandanal
ysi
s.

 Pr
ovi
desunder
standi
nganddescr
ipt
ionofpeopl
e’
sper
sonalexper
iencesof
phenomena(
i.
e.,
thei
nsi
der
’sv
iewpoi
nt)
.

 Candescr
ibe,i
nri
chdet
ail
,phenomenaast
heyar
esi
tuat
edandembeddedi
n
l
ocal
cont
ext
s.

 Ther
esear
cheri
dent
if
iescont
ext
ualandset
ti
ngf
act
orsast
heyr
elat
etot
he
phenomenonofi
nter
est
.

 The r
esear
chercan st
udy dy
nami
c pr
ocesses (
i.
e.,document
ingsequent
ial
pat
ter
nsandchange)
.

 Ther
esear
chercanuset
hepr
imar
il
yqual
i
tat
ivemet
hodof"
groundedt
heor
y"t
o
gener
atei
nduct
ivel
yat
ent
ati
vebutexpl
anat
oryt
heor
yaboutaphenomenon.
  Candet
ermi
nehowpar
ti
cipant
sint
erpr
et"
const
ruct
s"(
e.g.
,sel
f-
est
eem,I
Q).

 Dat
aar
eusual
l
ycol
l
ect
edi
nnat
ural
i
sti
cset
ti
ngsi
nqual
i
tat
iver
esear
ch.

 Qual
i
tat
ive appr
oaches ar
eresponsi
vet
olocalsi
tuat
ions,condi
ti
ons,and
st
akehol
der
s'needs.

Mi
xedMet
hod

St
rengt
hs

 Wor
ds,
pict
ures,
andnar
rat
ivecanbeusedt
oaddmeani
ngt
onumber
s.

 Number
scanbeusedt
oaddpr
eci
siont
owor
ds,
pict
ures,
andnar
rat
ive.

 Canpr
ovi
dequant
it
ati
veandqual
i
tat
iver
esear
chst
rengt
hs

 Resear
chercangener
ateandt
estagr
oundedt
heor
y.

 Can answerabr
oader andmor
ecompl
ete r
ange ofr
esear
chquest
ions
becauset
her
esear
cheri
snotconf
inedt
oasi
ngl
emet
hodorappr
oach.

 Thespeci
fi
c mi
xedr
esear
ch desi
gnsdi
scussed i
nthi
s ar
ti
clehav
especi
fi
c
st
rengt
hsandweaknesses t
hat shoul
d beconsi
der
ed(
e.g.
,inat
wo-
stage
sequent
ialdesi
gn,t
heSt
ager
esul
ts can be usedt
odev
elopand i
nfor
m t
he
pur
poseanddesi
gnoft
heSt
agecomponent
).

 Ar
esear
chercan uset
hest
rengt
hsofanaddi
ti
onalmet
hodt
o ov
ercome t
he
weaknessesi
nanot
hermet
hodbyusi
ngbot
hinar
esear
chst
udy
.

 Canpr
ovi
de st
rongerev
idence f
or a concl
usi
on t
hroughconv
ergence and
cor
robor
ati
onoff
indi
ngs.

 Canaddi
nsi
ght
sandunder
standi
ngt
hatmi
ghtbemi
ssedwhenonl
yasi
ngl
e
met
hodi
sused.

 Canbeusedt
oincr
easet
hegener
ali
zabi
l
ityoft
her
esul
ts.
  Qual
i
tat
iveand quant
it
ati
ver
esear
ch used t
oget
herpr
oducemor
ecompl
ete
knowl
edgenecessar
ytoi
nfor
mtheor
yandpr
act
ice.

Weaknesses

 Can be di
ff
icul
tfor asi
ngl
eresear
chert
ocar
ryout bot
hqual
i
tat
iveand
quant
it
ati
ver
esear
ch,especi
all
yift
wo ormor
eappr
oachesar
eexpect
ed t
o
beusedconcur
rent
ly;
itmayr
equi
rear
esear
cht
eam.

 Resear
cherhast
olear
naboutmul
ti
plemet
hodsandappr
oachesandunder
stand
howt
omi
xthem appr
opr
iat
ely
.

 Met
hodol
ogi
calpur
ist
scont
endt
hatoneshoul
d al
way
swor
kwi
thi
nei
thera
qual
i
tat
iveorquant
it
ati
vepar
adi
gm.

 Mor
eexpensi
ve.

 Mor
eti
meconsumi
ng.

 Someoft
hedet
ail
sofmi
xedr
esear
chr
emai
n t
o bewor
kedoutf
ull
yby
r
esear
ch met
hodol
ogi
sts (
e.g.
, pr
obl
ems ofpar
adi
gm mi
xi
ng,how t
o
qual
i
tat
ivel
yanal
yzequant
it
ati
vedat
a,howt
oint
erpr
etconf
li
cti
ngr
esul
ts)
.