Student Resources
Online Readings/Journals
Links to curated further reading articles on the SAGE Journals platform offer you the chance to broaden your understanding of mixed methods research.
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Chapter 1: Embracing Complexity in Mixed Methods Research
Description: Drawing upon procedure justice theory, Wing Hong Chui and Kevin Kwok-Yin Cheng use an explanatory mixed methods design to examine the perceptions of fairness and satisfaction that young offenders have towards their lawyers in the Hong Kong criminal justice system. Particularly noteworthy is the article description of the legal profession and the local study context.
Description: The authors use a convergent parallel mixed methods design to contextualize vaping culture in social media. This article capitalized on both the quantitative breadth and qualitative depth of primary Twitter data globally, and used an innovative integration approach.
Description: The authors used a concurrent triangulation mixed methods design to explore how knowledge and cognitive function influence the self-care of 41 adult Colombian heart failure patients. This article is noteworthy for its conceptualization of self-care as a naturalistic decision-making process and for its cross-case integrated findings from in-depth interviews and standardized surveys.
Description: The authors illustrate the benefits of using a multiphase mixed methods design to identify public health leadership competencies that could be applied to public health practice across Canada. The article is noteworthy for its discussion of the challenges and opportunities encountered in its use of literature review, online survey, focus group webinars, and modified Delphi.
Description: The authors use an exploratory sequential mixed methods design to identify community-level risk factors and related emotional insecurity responses among youth in Vukovar, Croatia. The article reports how the initial focus group discussions with parents and adolescents were further explained by the quantitative youth surveys.
Description: The multinational, interdisciplinary research team drew upon the framework of communicative action to explore the subjective, objective, and social worlds of displaced Colombian gay and bisexual men and transwomen through life history interviews and surveys. The article is noteworthy for its description of the research team’s promotion of social change through egalitarian dialogue.
Chapter 2: Positioning Demand for Innovation in Complex Mixed Methods Research
Description: This editorial highlights four essential elements involved in reporting a mixed methods research prevalence study. These insights guide a type of research often undertaken by those wanting to advance understanding specific to mixed methods research within their own disciplines.
Chapter 3: Advancing Integrative Thinking with Complexity in Mixed Methods Research
Description: Matthijs Koopmans advances complexity theory as a useful framework for mixed methods research in describing the behaviour of individuals within interrelated systems. In so doing, he provides a concise introduction for those new to complexity theory.
Chapter 4: Diagnosing Complexity of Mixed Methods Research Conditions
Description: Written by the two authors of the featured study on law clients, this study draws on in-depth interviews with 40 youth defendants and defence lawyers. It examines the ways in which the welfare and justice imperatives are negotiated within the Hong Kong juvenile justice system.
Chapter 6: Defining Systems of Complex Mixed Methods Research Contexts
Description: The authors describe standards for guiding what should be included in a qualitative or mixed methods research report. The standards are intended for use by authors in the process of writing prior to submission and by reviewers and editors during the peer review process.
Journal Article 2: Marti, T. S., & Mertens, D. M. (Eds.) (2014). Special Issue: Marginalized populations. Journal of Mixed Methods Research, 8 (3), 207–321.
Description: To explore the potential of mixed methods to contribute to social change, two different features are discussed in this special issue: a researcher’s responsibility to inform policies when working with marginalized populations, and involving the participants to generate more accurate and useful knowledge. This issue is an essential read for anyone pursuing mixed methods research under conditions of complexity because of its particular methodological strategies aimed at including the people who are being ‘researched’.
Relevant articles from the special issue:
Chapter 7: Describing Designs of Complex Mixed Methods Research Integrations
Journal Article 1: Guest, G. (2013). Describing mixed methods research: An alternative to typologies. Journal of Mixed Methods Research, 7, 141–151. doi: 10.1177/1558689812461179.
Description: Greg Guest offers a thoughtful critique of the use of typologies for designing mixed methods research. He also offers an alternative approach to design, shifting the focus from the research study to the individual points of interface among data strands.
Description: Bronwyn Hall and Kirsten Howard described the core set of principles of a synergistic approach to bring the principles of typological and systemic design approaches together. They describe the synergistic approach within the context of mixing methods in a randomized controlled trial.
Chapter 8: Developing Capacity for Complex Mixed Methods Research Interactions
Description: These authors explore the group dynamics of mixed methods health sciences research teams, identify challenges, and propose guiding principles. Noteworthy are the discussions about developing meaningful interactions and handling conflict and tension.
Description: Sharlene Hesse-Biber examines the range of factors and issues that need to be considered to facilitate efficient interdisciplinary team-based mixed methods research. Of particular note are the discussions related to definitions of interdisciplinary research and practical considerations.
Chapter 9: Generating Evidence of Complex Mixed Methods Research Outcomes
Description: In this editorial, Anthony Onwuegbuzie and I advance a framework for comprehensively reviewing a mixed methods research manuscript based on the peer reviews from two special issues. The second Appendix in this article lists the 32 items for assessing the quality of a mixed methods manuscript.