Mixed Methods Research
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Self-development
is a higher duty than self-sacrifice.
Elizabeth
Cady
Stanton
There
is nothing like returning to a place
that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have
altered.
Nelson
Mandela
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As
I walked along Mason Pond this summer, I thought about the many times
I had walked past it previously. The first semester had been
snowy and
icy. Other times had been in the heat of the summer;
sometimes I was
rushing with a backpack full of materials. And, many times, I
had walked
that path with a classmate after class while we talked about research
and
teaching and how we were progressing. I got a little
nostalgic for how my
education and experiences have affected me and how
my understanding has widened
and deepened.
My
program required courses in introductory qualitative and quantitative
research. I was very curious about both. I wanted
to do research
but had no idea how to go about it. I enrolled in Dr.
Maxwell's
qualitative course for a summer semester. Not only
did I know
painfully little about qualitative research, I had no idea that there
were so
many different types. I had a hard time keeping them
straight. I
never dismissed qualitative research as anything less than valuable;
but, I did
gain a great appreciation for it during this class. I began
reading
dissertations and found that several of them had a chapter on the
quantitative
research, including some calculations, and a huge chapter on the
qualitative
research, complete with tables, charts, anecdotal information and
transcripts.
So, I surmised that this was Mixed Methods.
Wrong
again. There is so much more to mixed methods. My
EDRS
797 Mixed Methods course was intense and filled with voluminous reading
assignments;
I know that we just touched the surface. The biggest
revelation for me
was that mixed methods truly does mean that the methods are
intertwined, they
inform each other and can clarify each other. We read several
articles
from which one conclusion could have reasonably arisen.
However, when
methods were "mixed" a completely different picture arose.
So,
mixed methods is much more than "quantitative part + qualitative part =
mixed methods." I think of it almost as flour and water, or
two
crayon colors, both are fine are their own, but together they
can be more than
the sum of their parts.
I
view this course as one of the best in my program. I like the
idea of having quantitative data clarify some reasons for qualitative
findings
and qualitative data shed light on why some of the numbers look the way
they
do. It seems to me that this is a more thorough way of
conducting
research. I have also found that some authors fail to take
advantage of
using different data sets to shed light on other
data and clarify
their findings. I find it disappointing when such a great
opportunity is
missed. I know it takes time; but, it is well worth it.
In
the summer institutes, we administered pre-tests and post-tests.
And, throughout the weeks, we listened to their classroom
discussions,
read their reflections and reviewed their homework. None of
these is viewed
in isolation. We talk about how one factor may be affected by
another.
We even discuss students’ dispositions if anything
may be a consideration.
For example, last year a student was taking our class two
weeks before
her wedding; and, this year, a student was hostile over the level of
material
being presented. So, I think I have had some very good
practical
experience in mixed methods. I have a very long way to go;
but, I am on
the path.
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