A Research Study On Mixed Methods

The continued academic tension between qualitative and quantitative inquiry has continued unabated. Scholarship since the 1980s, to redefine both paradigms, attempt to bring balance and importance of the respective contribution of both research processes. This has resulted in an interesting shift for “ensuring structure, process and rigor” from the investigator’s actions during the course of the research, to the reader of the qualitative inquiry. The emphasis on Quantitative strategies implemented during the research process has been replaced by truth value, applicability,

Using quantitative and qualitative data in a study, the researcher nulls the weaknesses (Creswell, 2014). Creswell (2014) states “the core assumption of this form of inquiry is that the combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches provides a more complete understanding of a research problem than either approach alone”.

Researchers often times are faced with the decision of choosing a methodology of research; either Quantitative or Qualitative that they think best fits their study and objectives. This choice is guarded by the topic of study, the advantages and disadvantages, and the strengths and weaknesses of using either one or the other type of the methodologies.

Quantitative research deals with numbers and is measurable. Some examples of quantitative data are cost, number of participants and time. This type of research is systematic and uses the more traditional scientific method of data collection and presentation. Qualitative research has data that is nonnumeric in nature and it is difficult to measure. As the root of the same suggests, it gives a quality description of the data being viewed. It can include descriptions or verbal responses. Qualitative data is subjective in the sense that the answer can be different amongst various people.

As separate pieces of the research, all of the methods have their own advantages, however there are mainly disadvantages that make all of them either invalid or unreliable and nor representative. However if all these methods were combined into one – a mixed method research, all the qualities of the researches could have gone up, therefore it could have been even more useful to sociologists. Even though

There is a debate between Quantitative and Qualitative methodologies to compare which is more appropriate or which produces better insight or which is best

Sage (2009) explains that Qualitative information is collected first to enhance the understanding of the phenomenon under study. Furthermore, Polit and Beck (2012) explains the importance of Mixed Method in research and stated that a hypothesis that is supported by information, which is complementary brings about confidence in the validity of the results.

129). As such, Johnson et al. represents the attitude among some scholars that the mixed research method is an acceptable methodological approach. Although, Thomas and James (2006) disputed mixed research as a methodology by saying, “the mistake…is to assume that qualitative inquiry can in any way share elements or end-points congruent with those of scientific inquiry” (p.779). Similarly, Smith and Heshusius (1986) have argued that qualitative and quantitative research are not compatible or complementary. Despite such criticism, the author believes the mixed research method approach adds rigor to this

Complementarity, practicality, incrementality, enhanced validity, and collaboration are the advantages of the mixed method research mentioned by Polit and Beck

Mills and Gay (2016) state that, “there are three common, basic types of mixed methods research design: Explanatory sequential (QUANqual), Exploratory sequential (QUALquan), and Convergent parallel (QUAN + QUAL)” (p. 427). According to Mills and Gay (2016) in an explanatory

Mixed methods researchers advance the weight or priority to the collection of quantitative and qualitative data. Three options are available to the researcher for prioritizing data:

For my dissertation, I decided to use a qualitative approach to describe the data collected, because it will allow me to provide a very detailed description of the experience of each participant of the study. My choice was based on multiple reasons. First, using a qualitative approach I will be able to gather constructive feedbacks from the participants, that will allow me to improve and develop further this “new” idea of teaching/practicing pragmatic and cultural aspects of a language within a Virtual Reality (VR) experience. Second, I think that following a quantitative approach would not have provided me with enough data to analyze the sample since the number of participants is very limited and the VR experience is just a proof of concept and not fully developed. However, I decided to use mixed data collection methods to have a complete description of the participants. This would not have been possible if I would have used only

When both research designs are used together, more information can be gathered. Mixed methodology uses the numerical portion of the quantitative study design in combination with the descriptive aspect of the qualitative study. There are many similarities between these two designs, which make them compatible with each other.

Quantitative research is considered to be the use of numbers. In the use of a quantitative study, the researcher test objective theories by examining the conjunction among variables. The variables used can be measured on instruments, so that numbered data can be used and analyzed (Creswell, 2008). Qualitative research is mainly used to explore and understand human or social problems. The process of qualitative studies includes questions and procedures; and the data is collected byway of participant’s settings. It allows the researcher to study an issue in great detail and depth, as well as not allowing data collection to be constrained by predetermined data. Mixed methods research combines quantitative and qualitative methods and it involves philosophical assumptions. This form of study includes collecting and analyzing data from a quantitative and qualitative perspective. It is believed that mixed methods research is a great method for practicing researchers who would like to bridge the schism between quantitative and qualitative research (Onwuegbuzie & Leech, 2004a). Even though these methods are different, they all involve philosophical assumptions and distinct methods or procedures (Cresswell, 2009).

research is harder to understand but breaking the article into sections allows me to understand the