How the novice researcher can make sense of mixed methods designs

Abstract

The use of mixed methods designs has gained immense popularity in recent years, but as common to the fields in their first phase of fast development, the terminology and the concepts proposed to define and frame mixed methods research are growing increasingly more varied and technical at the same time. This tendency brings with it some hidden problems which novice researchers have to face in their pursuit from the stage of neophyte to the expert in methodological issues. This article demonstrates that pouring over the logic of more traditional research strategies (survey, experiment, case study, ethnography, action research, etc.) and deconstructing research designs into methodological aspects can facilitate the comprehension of the essential issues in the methodological construct of empirical research and thereby help novice researchers to cope better with the plurality of mixed methods designs proposed in the methodological literature.