 If you ever bought a house, car or even a box-lunch you have used a mixed methods approach to getting to your decision without recognizing it! Review the process you used to make the choice – you investigated how popular, that is, how many people make the selection you are interested in (a quantitative research method) then you asked around – interviewed several others (a qualitative research method) on the key points that you think will inform your final decision. This is the mixed methods approach to research (affectionately called MM by its proponents). Its versatility and naturalness to any research question is what makes this technique (or combination of techniques) a rapidly growing movement in the world of scientifically conducted research.
To keep with the trends, the School of Education presented a two-day workshop on mixed methods research at the School of Education at The UWI, St. Augustine in March, 2015. Facilitators were Professor Anthony Onwuegbuzie and Dr. Cindy Benge of Sam Houston University, Texas. Lecturers, research students and policy makers across The UWI and other educational institutions attended.
UWI Today spoke with Prof. Anthony Onwuegbuzie and Dr. Benge along with School of Education Lecturer, Dr. Vimala Judy Kamalodeen about mixed methods research, the state of research now and what they hope for the future.
JA: So what does mixed methods research entail?
AO: Over the years, there have been two major traditions in research: qualitative which is looking at words, observations, etc. and the other is quantitative which involves numbers and they’ve been separate until the late ’90s where we said, why not do both to get the bigger picture? Mixed methods is a way to get more out of your data and answer more complex questions rather than just doing one technique.
JA: Since this is a burgeoning field, how did you get involved in mixed methods research?
AO: My dissertation was really mixed. I was studying anxieties related to testing and I did a mixed methods study and didn’t realise it because it was natural for me so I started to read more about it and write about it and I got a lot of rejection; it was hostile actually – I used to get mocked. A guy told me “Tony you are such a rabble-rouser, when are you going to realise that mixed methods is never going to take off?”
JA: He said this in front of the audience?
AO: Yes it was serious and it was difficult to get published in the late ’90s. I went up to a presenter and said, “I have this article, it has mixed methods and could you take a look at it?” and they were impressed. It led to me co-authoring a chapter in a Handbook in 2003 that was really pivotal and helped to validate mixed methods.
JA: Is mixed methods research mainly done at the postgraduate level or do you see it as cross-disciplinary and applicable to teachers in high school?
AO: I think as early as possible. If we get students at high school and allow them to solve problems using different types of data, when they go to college and beyond they will have that positive attitude.
CB: We use mixed methods in our daily lives to make decisions all the time. When I give my assistant a task to purchase something; she has to find the best price, do research, but I also want quality, so she’s going to use information that she finds where people have spoken to the quality of a product. I would not hire someone who could not use mixed methods research. When we bifurcate into qualitative vs. quantitative it creates a false dichotomy.
VJK: I just feel that mixed methods is very natural way of life. Only when you reach a certain level of postgraduate, you learn these words qualitative, quantitative. But in every other aspect it’s mixed, you do it naturally.
JA: How would you get people who are fixated on one method or the other over using both as a mixed method approach, to see it as the most natural method and therefore as equally scientific methodology?
AO: There was a mixed methods conference in Jamaica and they had to grasp concepts very quickly and it was very impressive. That was the best experience I’ve ever had with students. A lot of students say – “I just want to get it done” and we want you to get it done too! I will make sure you don’t take longer than what is realistic because a lot of what we do as methodologists is to trim the scope. We want them to learn the skills so they can move on with their research and their lives.
JA: From a legislative standpoint, do you see policy-makers taking mixed methods research seriously?
AO: That’s a challenge we have because ultimately numbers still prevail and we emphasise in our students to make qualitative as rigorous and integrative as possible so they can’t separate it out into two sets of tracks.
JA: What is next for the future of mixed methods?
AO:There is another conference in Texas, I told them to use the Jamaica conference as a model. There will be three more conferences coming up - one in Texas, Philadelphia and Japan. You can find information at http://mixed methodsira.wildapricot.org/. It’s a very exciting time for researchers.
JA: In closing, what would you say to people who are still reluctant to embrace mixed methods research?
AO: It’s inevitable like the phrase, “you want to be on the right side of history;” you don’t want to be the one saying you can’t do it, don’t do it. In the future, people are going to be doing what we’re doing and more, so why fight it? They should embrace it and join the bandwagon.
Jeanette Awai is a freelance writer and member of staff at The UWI’s Marketing and Communications Department. |
