"It premieres the most adept researchers in the field who have bravely and soundly followed mixed methodology approaches."
-NACADA (National ACademic ADvising Association)
In recent years, researchers have begun to combine quantitative and qualitative approaches within single study research designs. As such, the literature on mixed methods research has grown at a rapid pace. While more methodological books addressing mixed methods are becoming available, the foundational writings of this field are still scattered across diverse disciplines and their wide range of publications outlets, leaving students and researchers at a disadvantage to find the exemplary or model studies to help them understand how to conduct their own mixed methods research.
In light of the dispersed nature of the mixed methods literature, The Mixed Methods Reader editors have organized a collection of key methodological mixed methods discussions and exemplar mixed methods research studies in one easy-to-access location. This integrative collection draws from the international literature appearing across diverse research disciplines over the past thirty years. The Mixed Methods Reader is divided into two parts: Part I - Methodological Selections and Part II - Exemplar Research Studies. Part I includes a collection of 14 foundational writings from the mixed methods research literature. These readings convey the overall development and evolution of mixed methods research and address essential topics for researchers new to the field of mixed methods research. These topics include its foundations; design types; implementation issues such as sampling, data analysis, and validity; rhetorical devices for reporting mixed methods studies; and critiques about the current thinking in the field. Part II includes 9 exemplar mixed methods research studies drawn from a range of disciplines and international scholars. The studies were intentionally selected to illustrate four major types of mixed methods designs. As with the methodological chapters, the editors organize the exemplar research studies so that the reader can see a natural progression of the different approaches to conducting mixed methods research.
The Mixed Methods Reader, edited by two leading researchers in mixed methods research, offers students and researchers a rich balance of foundational works and exemplary studies across a range of disciplines. This reader is an invaluable primary or supplementary resource for courses that address mixed methods research.
Key Features:
Each of the 14 foundational readings offers a brief introduction by the editors, discussing the reading's overall importance to mixed methods research and explaining what aspect of the research process is addressed.
The foundational readings are organized around the research process to facilitate its use as a text or supplement for research courses emphasizing mixed methods approaches. They cover research design types and purposes, data collection, data analysis, reporting of mixed methods studies, and future directions.
Each of the 9 exemplary studies include a brief commentary from the editors, highlighting the noteworthy features of the article. These exemplary studies range in discipline and setting yet focus intently on the research process and the various ways of conducting mixed methods studies.
Visual diagrams accompany each exemplary study: These visual diagrams will convey the overall structure and approach used in each of the studies.
Discussion questions accompanying each selection further call attention to the key points and help a student or individual researcher to tie together the core concepts presented in the commentaries and articles.
Author Biography:
Vicki L. Plano Clark (Ph.D., University of Nebraska-Lincoln) is an assistant professor in the Quantitative and Mixed Methods Research Methodologies concentration of Educational Studies at the University of Cincinnati. Her teaching focuses on foundations of research methodologies and mixed methods research, including a two-semester mixed methods sequence and special topics courses. As a methodologist specializing in mixed methods research, her scholarship aims to delineate useful designs for conducting mixed methods research, examine procedural issues associated with these designs, and consider larger questions about the contexts for the adoption and use of mixed methods. She has also co-authored several books with John W. Creswell including Designing and Conducting Mixed Methods Research (SAGE, 2007, 2011), The Mixed Methods Reader (SAGE, 2008), and Understanding Research: A Consumer's Guide (Pearson Education, 2010, 2015). She was the founding Managing Editor for the Journal of Mixed Methods Research and currently serves as an Associate Editor. In 2011, she co-led the development of Best Practices for Mixed Methods in the Health Sciences for NIH's Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research. She is a founding co-editor of SAGE's Mixed Methods Research Series. As an applied research methodologist, Vicki also engages in research and evaluation projects on a wide array of topics such as the management of cancer pain, the identity development of STEM graduate students, the professional development of teachers of Chinese, and the effectiveness of school reform initiatives. Before joining the University of Cincinnati, she was the director of the Office of Qualitative and Mixed Methods Research, a service and research unit that provides methodological support for proposal development and funded projects at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Originally trained in physics, she spent 12 years developing innovative curricular materials for introductory physics as the Physics Laboratory Manager at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. John W. Creswell, PhD, has been a professor of educational psychology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln since 1978. In addition to teaching at the university, he has authored numerous articles on mixed methods research, qualitative methodology, and general research design and 12 books, many of which focus on types of research designs, comparisons of different qualitative methodologies, and the nature and use of mixed methods research. His books are translated into many languages and used around the world. For the last five years, Dr. Creswell served as a co-director at the Office of Qualitative and Mixed Methods Research at the University of Nebraska, which provided support for scholars incorporating qualitative and mixed methods research into projects for extramural funding. He served as the founding co-editor of the Sage Journal of Mixed Methods Research, and as an adjunct professor of family medicine at the University of Michigan where he assisted investigators in the health sciences and education with research methodology for National Institutes of Health (NIH) and National Science Foundation projects. He also served extensively as a consultant in the health services research area for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Dr. Creswell was a Senior Fulbright Scholar to South Africa and in 2008 lectured to faculty at five universities on education and the health sciences. In 2012 he served as a Senior Fulbright Scholar to Thailand. Recently he served as a co-leader of a national working group developing guidelines for mixed methods research for NIH. He lives with his wife, Karen, in Lincoln, Nebraska.
