This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Mason, J. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                   What's this?

Mixing methods in a qualitatively driven way

University of Manchester, jennifer.mason{at}manchester.ac.uk

This article makes an argument for a ‘qualitatively driven’ approach to mixing methods. It focuses on the value of mixed-methods approaches for researching questions about social experience and lived realities. It suggests that ‘qualitative thinking’ is a useful starting point for mixing methods, but that it is ultimately more helpful to think in terms of multi-dimensional research strategies that transcend or even subvert the so-called qualitative-quantitative divide. Mixing methods helps us to think creatively and ‘outside the box’, to theorize beyond the micro-macro divide, and to enhance and extend the logic of qualitative explanation. Mixed-methods approaches raise challenges in reconciling different epistemologies and ontologies, and in integrating different forms of data and knowledge. The article argues that we should think more in terms of ‘meshing’ or ‘linking’ than ‘integrating’ data and method. It goes on to argue for the development of ‘multi-nodal’ dialogic explanations that allow the distinctiveness of different methods and approaches to be held in creative tension. The article concludes with a discussion of qualitatively derived principles for mixing methods.

Key Words: lived realities • mixed methods • multi-dimensional methods • qualitative methods • social experience

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				C. I. Voils, M. Sandelowski, J. Barroso, and V. Hasselblad Making Sense of Qualitative and Quantitative Findings in Mixed Research Synthesis Studies. Field Methods, January 1, 2008; 20(1): 3 - 25. [Abstract] [PDF]

				A. B. Dellinger and N. L. Leech Toward a Unified Validation Framework in Mixed Methods Research Journal of Mixed Methods Research, October 1, 2007; 1(4): 309 - 332. [Abstract] [PDF]

				R. Hurdley Focal points: framing material culture and visual data Qualitative Research, August 1, 2007; 7(3): 355 - 374. [Abstract] [PDF]

				S. Hillyard 'As relevant as banning polo in Greenland': the absence of ethnographic insight into country sports in the UK Qualitative Research, February 1, 2007; 7(1): 83 - 101. [Abstract] [PDF]

				D. Freshwater Integrating mixed-methods research into healthcare Journal of Research in Nursing, May 1, 2006; 11(3): 179 - 181. [PDF]