CHOOSING A MIXED METHODS DESIGN - SAGE Publications Inc

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4 C H A P T E R

CHOOSING A MIXED METHODS DESIGN

R esearch designs are procedures for collecting, analyzing, interpreting, and reporting data in research studies. They represent different models for doing research, and these models have distinct names and procedures associated with them. Rigorous research designs are important because they guide the methods decisions that researchers must make during their studies and set the logic by which they make interpretations at the end of studies. Once a researcher has selected a mixed methods approach for a study, the next step is to decide on the specific design that best addresses the research problem. What designs are available, and how do researchers decide which one is appropriate for their studies? Mixed methods researchers need to be acquainted with the major types of mixed methods designs and the common variants among these designs. Important considerations when choosing designs are knowing the intent, the procedures, and the strengths and challenges associated with each design. Researchers also need to be familiar with the timing, weighting, and mixing decisions that are made in each of the different mixed methods designs.

This chapter will address

? The classifications of designs in the literature ? The four major types of mixed methods designs, including their

intent, key procedures, common variants, and inherent strengths and challenges 58

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? Factors such as timing, weighting, and mixing, which influence the choice of an appropriate design

CLASSIFICATIONS OF MIXED METHODS DESIGNS

Researchers benefit from being familiar with the numerous classifications of mixed methods designs found in the literature. These classifications represent different disciplines, and they use different terminology. Researchers should be aware of the range of mixed methods design types, as well as the discipline-based discussions of mixed methods designs.

Methodologists writing about mixed methods research have devoted a great deal of attention to classifying the different types of mixed methods designs. In the final chapter of the Handbook of Mixed Methods in Social and Behavioral Research, Tashakkori and Teddlie (2003b) noted that they had found nearly 40 different types of mixed methods designs in the literature. Creswell, Plano Clark, et al. (2003) have summarized the range of these classifications. Their summary has been updated, and a list of 12 classifications is included in Table 4.1. These classifications represent diverse social science disciplines, including evaluation, health research, and educational research, which span the past 15 years of scholarly writings about mixed methods approaches. The different types and various classifications speak to the evolving nature of mixed methods research.

Seeing the long list of design types in Table 4.1 may be overwhelming. It is easy to get lost in the details, as these classifications are drawn from different disciplines, have emphasized different facets of mixed methods designs, and lack consistency in the names of the designs. It may even appear that little agreement exists among these authors and that there are an infinite number of design options. In fact, although authors have emphasized different features and used different names, there are actually more similarities than differences among these classifications. Based on these similarities, we feel that a parsimonious and functional classification can be created. Thus we advance four major mixed methods designs, with variants within each type.

THE FOUR MAJOR TYPES OF MIXED METHODS DESIGNS

The four major types of mixed methods designs are the Triangulation Design, the Embedded Design, the Explanatory Design, and the Exploratory Design. The following sections provide an overview of each of these designs: their use, procedures, common variants, and challenges.

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Table 4.1

Mixed Method Design Classifications

Author Greene, Caracelli, and Graham (1989)

Patton (1990)

Morse (1991)

Steckler, McLeroy, Goodman, Bird, and McCormick (1992)

Greene and Caracelli (1997)

Mixed Method Designs

Initiation Expansion Development Complementary Triangulation

Experimental design, qualitative data, and content analysis Experimental design, qualitative data, and statistical analysis Naturalistic inquiry, qualitative data, and statistical analysis Naturalistic inquiry, quantitative data, and statistical analysis

Simultaneous triangulation QUAL + quan QUAN + qual Sequential triangulation QUAL quan QUAN qual

Model 1: Qualitative methods to develop quantitative measures Model 2: Qualitative methods to explain quantitative findings Model 3: Quantitative methods to embellish qualitative findings Model 4: Qualitative and quantitative methods used equally and parallel

Component designs Triangulation Complementary Expansion Integrated designs Iterative Embedded or nested Holistic Transformative

Discipline Evaluation Evaluation

Nursing Public health education

Evaluation

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Author Morgan (1998)

Tashakkori and Teddlie (1998)

Creswell (1999) Sandelowski (2000) Creswell, Plano Clark, Gutmann, and Hanson (2003)

Mixed Method Designs

Complementary designs Qualitative preliminary Quantitative preliminary Qualitative follow-up Quantitative follow-up

Mixed method designs Equivalent status (sequential or parallel) Dominant?less dominant (sequential or parallel) Multilevel use Mixed model designs:

I. Confirmatory, qualitative data, statistical analysis, and inference

II. Confirmatory, qualitative data, qualitative analysis, and inference

III. Exploratory, quantitative data, statistical analysis, and inference

IV. Exploratory, qualitative data, statistical analysis, and inference

V. Confirmatory, quantitative data, qualitative analysis, and inference

VI. Exploratory, quantitative data, qualitative analysis, and inference

VII. Parallel mixed model VIII. Sequential mixed model

Convergence model Sequential model Instrument-building model

Sequential Concurrent Iterative Sandwich

Sequential explanatory Sequential exploratory Sequential transformative Concurrent triangulation Concurrent nested Concurrent transformative

Discipline Health research Educational research

Educational policy Nursing Educational research

(Continued)

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Table 4.1 (Continued)

Author

Creswell, Fetters, and Ivankova (2004)

Tashakkori and Teddlie (2003b)

Mixed Method Designs

Instrument design model Triangulation design model Data transformation design model

Multistrand designs Concurrent mixed designs Concurrent mixed method design Concurrent mixed model design Sequential mixed designs Sequential mixed method design Sequential mixed model design Multistrand conversion mixed designs Multistrand conversion mixed method design Multistrand conversion mixed model design Fully integrated mixed model design

Discipline Primary medical care

Social and behavioral research

SOURCE: Adapted from Creswell, Plano Clark, et al. (2003, pp. 216-217, Table 8.1).

The Triangulation Design

The most common and well-known approach to mixing methods is the Triangulation Design (Figure 4.1a) (Creswell, Plano Clark, et al., 2003). The purpose of this design is "to obtain different but complementary data on the same topic" (Morse, 1991, p. 122) to best understand the research problem. The intent in using this design is to bring together the differing strengths and nonoverlapping weaknesses of quantitative methods (large sample size, trends, generalization) with those of qualitative methods (small N, details, in depth) (Patton, 1990). This design and its underlying purpose of converging different methods has been discussed extensively in the literature (e.g., Jick, 1979; Brewer & Hunter, 1989; Greene et al., 1989; Morse, 1991). This design is used when a researcher wants to directly compare and contrast quantitative statistical results with qualitative findings or to validate or expand quantitative results with qualitative data.

Triangulation Design Procedures. The Triangulation Design is a one-phase design in which researchers implement the quantitative and qualitative

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