Issues in Mixing Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches to Research

Abstract

That mixed methods studies have become “trendy” again after a period of disrepute does not mean the issues such methods raise have gone away. Definitional, paradigmatic and methodological issues continue to be raised when researchers write about mixed methods, while design issues, issues in sampling, analysis and reporting and wide - ranging demands on researcher skills, finances and time are faced daily by those involved in a mixed methods study. Mixed methods researchers, in bringing together the benefits of both qualitative and quantitative approaches to research, often claim greater validity of results as a reason for their methodological choices, but without adequate consideration of the issues involved such validity may be more imagined than real.