Mixed Methods Research: Research Paradigm Whose Time …

1 Mixed Methods Research : A Research Paradigm Whose Time Has Come by R. Burke Johnson and Onwuegbuzie The purposes of this article are to position Mixed Methods Research writing style using the impersonal passive voice and technical ter- ( Mixed Research is a synonym) as the natural complement to tradi- minology, in which establishing and describing social laws is the tional qualitative and quantitative Research , to present pragmatism major focus (Tashakkori & Teddlie, 1998). Qualitative purists (also called constructivists and interpretivists). as offering an attractive philosophical partner for Mixed Methods re- reject what they call positivism.

2 They argue for the superiority of search, and to provide a framework for designing and conducting constructivism, idealism, relativism, humanism, hermeneutics, Mixed Methods Research . In doing this, we briefly review the para- and, sometimes, postmodernism (Guba &Lincoln, 1989; Lincoln digm "wars" and incompatibility thesis, we show some commonali- & Guba, 2000; Schwandt, 2000; Smith, 1983, 1984). These ties between quantitative and qualitative Research , we explain the purists contend that multiple-constructed realities abound, that tenets of pragmatism, we explain the fundamental principle of Mixed time- and context-free generalizations are neither desirable nor Research and how to apply it, we provide specific sets of designs for possible, that Research is value-bound, that it is impossible to dif- ferentiate fully causes and effects.

3 That logic flows from specific the two major types of Mixed Methods Research ( Mixed -model de- to general ( , explanations are generated inductively from the signs and Mixed -method designs), and, finally, we explain Mixed meth- data), and that knower and known cannot be separated because ods Research as following (recursively) an eight-step process. A key the subjective knower is the only source of reality (Guba, 1990). feature of Mixed Methods Research is its methodological pluralism Qualitative purists also are characterized by a dislike of a de- or eclecticism, which frequently results in superior Research (com- tached and passive style of writing, preferring, instead, detailed, pared to monomethod Research ).

4 Mixed Methods Research will be rich, and thick (empathic) description, written directly and some- successful as more investigators study and help advance its concepts what informally. Both sets of purists view their paradigms as the ideal for re- and as they regularly practice it. search, and, implicitly if not explicitly, they advocate the in- compatibility thesis (Howe, 1988), which posits that qualitative and quantitative Research paradigms, including their associated >3 or more than a century, the advocates of quantitative and Methods , cannot and should not be Mixed .

5 The quantitative ' qualitative Research paradigms have engaged in ardent dis- versus qualitative debate has been so divisive that some gradu- tLi From these debates, purists have emerged on both ate students who graduate from educational institutions with an sides (cf. Campbell & Stanley, 1963; Lincoln & Guba, 1985).2 aspiration to gain employment in the world of academia or re- Quantitative purists (Ayer, 1959; Maxwell & Delaney, 2004; search are left with the impression that they have to pledge alle- Popper, 1959; Schrag, 1992) articulate assumptions that are con- giance to one Research school of thought or the other.

6 Guba (a sistent with what is commonly called a positivist philosophy. 3 ' 4 leading qualitative purist) clearly represented the purist position That is, quantitative purists believe that social observations when he contended that "accommodation between paradigms should be treated as entities in much the same way that physical is impossible .. we are led to vastly diverse, disparate, and to- scientists treat physical phenomena. Further, they contend that tally antithetical ends" (Guba, 1990, p. 81). A disturbing fea- the observer is separate from the entities that are subject to ob- ture of the Paradigm wars has been the relentless focus on the servation.

7 Quantitative purists maintain that social science differences between the two orientations. Indeed, the two dom- inquiry should be objective. That is, time- and context-free gen- inant Research paradigms have resulted in two Research cultures, eralizations (Nagel, 1986) are desirable and possible, and real "one professing the superiority of 'deep, rich observational data'. causes of social scientific outcomes can be determined reliably and the other the virtues of 'hard, generalizable' .. data". and validly. According to this school of thought, educational re- (Sieber, 1973, p.)

8 1335). searchers should eliminate their biases, remain emotionally de- Our purpose in writing this article is to present Mixed meth- tached and uninvolved with the objects of study, and test or ods Research as the third Research Paradigm in educational re- empirically justify their stated hypotheses. These researchers have We hope the field will move beyond quantitative versus traditionally called for rhetorical neutrality, involving a formal qualitative Research arguments because, as recognized by Mixed Methods Research , both quantitative and qualitative Research are important and useful.

9 The goal ofmixed Methods Research is not I Educational Researcher, Vol. 33, No. 7, pp. 14-26. to replace either of these approaches but rather to draw from the i| EDUCATIONAL RESEARCHER. strengths and minimize the weaknesses of both in single Research is most helpful and when and how they should be Mixed or com- studies and across studies. If you visualize a continuum with bined in their Research studies. qualitative Research anchored at one pole and quantitative re- We contend that epistemological and methodological pluralism search anchored at the other, Mixed Methods Research covers the should be promoted in educational Research so that researchers are large set of points in the middle area.

10 If one prefers to think cat- informed about epistemological and methodological possibilities egorically, Mixed Methods Research sits in a new third chair, with and, ultimately, so that we are able to conduct more effective re- qualitative Research sitting on the left side and quantitative re- search. Today's Research world is becoming increasingly inter- search sitting on the right side. disciplinary, complex, and dynamic; therefore, many researchers Mixed Methods Research offers great promise for practicing need to complement one method with another, and all researchers researchers who would like to see methodologists describe and need a solid understanding of multiple Methods used by other develop techniques that are closer to what researchers actually scholars to facilitate communication, to promote collaboration, use in practice.