![[PDF]](/pb-assets/Icons/adobe-pdf-icon-1498649896243.png){kind=icon}
Abstract
The mixed methods approach has emerged as a ``third paradigm'' for social research. It has developed a platform of ideas and practices that are credible and distinctive and that mark the approach out as a viable alternative to quantitative and qualitative paradigms. However, there are also a number of variations and inconsistencies within the mixed methods approach that should not be ignored. This article argues the need for a vision of research paradigm that accommodates such variations and inconsistencies. It is argued that the use of ``communities of practice'' as the basis for such a research paradigm is (a) consistent with the pragmatist underpinnings of the mixed methods approach, (b) accommodates a level of diversity, and (c) has good potential for understanding the methodological choices made by those conducting mixed methods research.
|
Brewer, J. , & Hunter, A. (1989). Multimethod research: A synthesis of styles. Newbury Park, CA: Sage. Google Scholar | |
|
Brown, J.S. (1999). What is a community of practice? Retrieved August 10, 2007, from http://www.co-i-1.com/coil/knowledge-garden/cop/definitions.shtml Google Scholar | |
|
Bryman, A. (1988). Quantity and quality in social research. London: Unwin Hyman. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Bryman, A. (2004). Triangulation. In M. Lewis-Beck , A. Bryman , & T. F. Liao (Eds.), The Sage encyclopedia of social science research methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Google Scholar | |
|
Bryman, A. (2006). Integrating quantitative and qualitative research: How is it done? Qualitative Research, 6(1), 97-113. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | |
|
Bryman, A. (2007). Barriers to integrating quantitative and qualitative research. Journal of Mixed Methods Research, 1(1), 8-22. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
Campbell, D.T. , & Fiske, D.W. (1959). Convergent and discriminant validation by the multitrait-multimethod matrix. Psychological Bulletin, 56(2), 81-105. Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | ISI | |
|
Cherryholmes, C.H. (1992). Notes on pragmatism and scientific realism. Educational Researcher, 14, 13-17. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | |
|
Collins, K.M.T. , Onwuegbuzie, A.J. , & Sutton, I.L. (2006). A model incorporating the rationale and purpose for conducting mixed-methods research in special education and beyond. Learning Disabilities: A Contemporary Journal, 4(1), 67-100. Google Scholar | |
|
Cook, T. D., & Reichardt, C. S. (Eds.). (1979). Qualitative and quantitative methods in evaluation. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage. Google Scholar | |
|
Coxon, A.P. (2005). Integrating qualitative and quantitative data: What does the user need? Forum: Qualitative Social Research (FQS), 6(2). Retrieved May 2005 from http://www.qualitative-research.net/fqs-texte/2-05/05-2-40-e.htm#lit Google Scholar | |
|
Creswell, J.W. (1999). Mixed-method research: Introduction and application (pp. 455-472). In G. J. Cizek (Ed.), Handbook of educational policy. New York: Academic Press. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Creswell, J.W. (2003). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods approaches (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Google Scholar | |
|
Creswell, J.W. , & Plano Clark, V.L. (2007). Designing and conducting mixed methods research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Google Scholar | |
|
Creswell, J.W. , Tashakkori, A. , Jensen, K.D. , & Shapley, K.L. (2003). Teaching mixed methods research: Practices, dilemmas, and challenges (pp. 619-638). In A. Tashakkori & C. Teddlie (Eds.), Handbook of mixed methods in social & behavioral research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Google Scholar | |
|
Datta, L. (1994). Paradigm wars: A basis for peaceful co-existence and beyond. In C. S. Reichardt & S. F. Rallis (Eds.), The qualitative-quantitative debate: New perspectives (pp. 53-70). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Google Scholar | |
|
Denzin, N.K. (1970). Strategies of multiple triangulation (pp. 297-313). In N. K. Denzin (Ed.), The research act in sociology: A theoretical introduction to sociological method. New York : McGraw-Hill. Google Scholar | |
|
Giddings, L.S. (2006). Mixed-methods research: Positivism dressed in drag? Journal of Research in Nursing, 11(3), 195-203. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | |
|
Greene, J.C. (2008). Is mixed methods social inquiry a distinctive methodology? Journal of Mixed Methods Research, 2(1), 7-22. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
Greene. J.C. , Benjamin, L. , & Goodyear, L. (2001). The merits of mixing methods in evaluation. Evaluation, 7(1), 25-44. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | |
|
Greene. J.C. , Caracelli, V.J. , & Graham, W.F. (1989). Toward a conceptual framework for mixed-method evaluation designs. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis , 11, 255-274. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | |
|
Greene, J.C. , Kreider, H. , & Mayer, E. (2005). Combining qualitative and quantitative methods in social inquiry (pp. 274-281). In B. Somekh & C. Lewin (Eds.), Research methods in the social sciences. London: Sage. Google Scholar | |
|
Gorard, S. (with Taylor, C. ). (2004). Combining methods in educational and social research . Maidenhead: Open University Press . Google Scholar | |
|
Guignon, C.B. (1991). Pragmatism or hermeneutics? Epistemology after foundationalism. In D. R. Hiley , J. F. Boham , & R. Shusterman (Eds.), The interpretive turn: Philosophy, science, culture (pp. 81-101). Ithaca: Cornell University Press. Google Scholar | |
|
Hammersley, M. (1989). The dilemma of qualitative method: Herbert Blumer and the Chicago tradition. London: Routledge. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Hammersley, M. (1992). What's wrong with ethnography? London: Routledge. Google Scholar | |
|
Hammersley, M. (2005). What can the literature on communities of practice tell us about educational research? Reflections on some recent proposals. International Journal of Research and Method in Education, 28(1), 5-21. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Hardy, M. A., & Bryman, A. (Eds.). (2004). Handbook of data analysis. London: Sage. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Harvey, L. (1987). Myths of the Chicago school. Aldershot: Gower. Google Scholar | |
|
Hodkinson, P. (2004). Research as a form of work: Expertise, community and methodological objectivity. British Educational Research Journal, 30(1), 9-26. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Holmes, C. (2006, July 10-12). Mixed(up) methods, methodology and interpretive frameworks. Paper presented at the Mixed Methods Conference, Cambridge. Google Scholar | |
|
Jick, T.D. (1979). Mixing qualitative and quantitative methods: Triangulation in action. Administrative Science Quarterly, 24, 602-611. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Johnson-Lenz, P. , & Johnson-Lenz, T. (1999). Awaking technology. Retrieved November 30, 2007, from http://www.co-i-1.com/coil/knowledge-garden/cop/definitions.shtml Google Scholar | |
|
Johnson, R.B. , & Onwuegbuzie, A.J. (2004). Mixed methods research: A research paradigm whose time has come. Educational Researcher , 33(7), 14-26. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | |
|
Johnson, R.B. , Onwuegbuzie, A.J. , & Turner, L.A. (2007). Toward a definition of mixed methods research . Journal of Mixed Methods Research, 1(2), 112-133. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
Kuhn, T.S. (1970). The structure of scientific revolutions (2nd ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press. (First published 1962) Google Scholar | |
|
Lasswell, H.D. (1961). The qualitative and quantitative in political and legal analysis. In D. Lerner (Ed.), Quantity and quality: The Hayden colloquium on scientific method and concept. New York: The Free Press of Glencoe. Google Scholar | |
|
Lave, J. , & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning-Legitimate peripheral participation . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Layder, D. (1993). New strategies in social research. Cambridge: Polity Press. Google Scholar | |
|
Layder, D. (1998). Sociological practice: Linking theory and social research. London: Sage. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Masterman, M. (1970). The nature of a paradigm. In I. Lakatos & A. Musgrave (Eds.), Criticism and the growth of knowledge. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Maxcy, S.J. (2003). Pragmatic threads in mixed methods research in the social sciences: The search for multiple modes of inquiry and the end of the philosophy of formalism (pp. 51-90). In A. Tashakkori & C. Teddlie (Eds.), Handbook of mixed methods in social & behavioral research . Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Google Scholar | |
|
Mayo, E. (2003). The human problems of an industrial civilization . London: Routledge. (First published 1933 by Macmillan, New York) Google Scholar | |
|
Meyer, J. (2005). Health research. In B. Somekh & C. Lewin (Eds.), Research methods in the social sciences (pp. 8-9). London : Sage. Google Scholar | |
|
Mitchell, J. , Wood, S. , & Young, S. (2001). Communities of practice: Reshaping professional practice and improving organisational productivity in the vocational education and training sector. Melbourne: Australian National Training Authority. Google Scholar | |
|
Morgan, D.L. (2007). Paradigms lost and pragmatism regained: Methodological implications of combining qualitative and quantitative methods. Journal of Mixed Methods Research, 1(1), 48-76. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
Morse, J. (2003). Principles of mixed methods and multimethod research design (pp. 189-208). In A. Tashakkori & C. Teddlie (Eds.), Handbook of mixed methods in social & behavioral research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Google Scholar | |
|
Onwuegbuzie, A.J. , & Leech, N.L. (2005). On becoming a pragmatic researcher: The importance of combining quantitative and qualitative research methodologies. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 8(5), 357-387. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Pring, R. (2000). Philosophy of educational research. London: Continuum. Google Scholar | |
|
Rallis, S.F. , & Rossman, G.B. (2003). Mixed methods in evaluation contexts: A pragmatic framework (pp. 491-512). In A. Tashakkori & C. Teddlie (Eds.), Handbook of mixed methods in social & behavioral research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Google Scholar | |
|
Reichardt, C.S. , & Rallis, S.F. (1994). The qualitative-quantitative debate: New perspectives . New Directions for Program Evaluation, 61, 1-98. Google Scholar | |
|
Rocco, T.S. , Bliss, L.A. , Gallagher, S. , & Perez-Prado, A. (2003). Taking the next step: Mixed methods research in organizational systems. Information Technology, Learning and Performance Journal, 21(1), 19-29. Google Scholar | |
|
Roethlisberger, F.J. , & Dickson, W.J. (2003). Management and the worker. London: Routledge (First published 1939 by Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA). Google Scholar | |
|
Rorty, R. (1982). Consequences of pragmatism. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. Google Scholar | |
|
Rorty, R. (1991). Objectivity, relativism and truth. In Philosophical papers (Vol. 1). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar | |
|
Silverman, D. (1985). Qualitative methodology and sociology: Describing the social world. Aldershot: Gower . Google Scholar | |
|
Silverman, D. (2000). Doing qualitative research: A practical handbook . London: Sage. Google Scholar | |
|
Somekh, B. (2005). Educational research. In B. Somekh & C. Lewin (Eds.), Research methods in the social sciences (pp. 7-8). London : Sage. Google Scholar | |
|
Tashakkori, A. , & Creswell, J.W. (2007a). The new era of mixed methods . Journal of Mixed Methods Research, 1(1), 3-7. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
Tashakkori, A. , & Creswell, J.W. (2007b). Exploring the nature of research questions in mixed methods research. Journal of Mixed Methods Research, 1(3), 207-211. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
Tashakkori, A. , & Teddlie, C. (1998). Mixed methodology: Combining qualitative and quantitative approaches. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Google Scholar | |
|
Tashakkori, A., & Teddlie, C. (Eds.). (2003). Handbook of mixed methods in social & behavioral research. Thousand Oaks, CA : Sage. Google Scholar | |
|
Webb, E.J. , Campbell, D.T. , Schwartz, R.D. , & Sechrest, L. (1966). Unobtrusive measures: Non-reactive research in the social sciences. Chicago: Rand McNally. Google Scholar | |
|
Wenger, E. (1998a). Communities of practice: Learning as a social system. Systems Thinker, 9(5), 1-8. Retrieved November 30, 2007, from http://www.co-i-1.com/coil/knowledge-garden/cop/lss.shtml Google Scholar | |
|
Wenger, E. (1998b). Communities of practice: Learning, meaning, and identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Wenger, E. , & Snyder, W.M. (2000). Communities of practice: The organizational frontier . Harvard Business Review, 78(1), 139-145. Google Scholar | Medline | ISI |
