Ehhmmm - if no-one minds me saying - shouldn't all mixed-methods PhD theses be presented as one study? The only alternative is to present the different methods separately - and then that wouldn't be a single thesis - or a single project. 

Anna - you can't have 3 seperate studies to make a mixed-methods study. They have to be aligned from the beginning - otherwise they are simply just three seperate studies that are linked by the topic matter alone.

The attached chapter might illuminate.

Hi - You might want to take a look at this PhD-Thesis:

http://pure.au.dk/portal/en/persons/line-schmeltz(f98162ed-2df5-4ae8-b7f5-ca2543cbec5c)/publications/conflicting-values-in-discourses-of-social-responsibility(6955a22a-7e68-4b25-b505-bf48a1c1a3dd).html

Both mixed methods, 3 separate studies combined to one comprehensive study.

The evaluation commitee were especially impressed with the methods/research design and ability to gather three studies to one.

I did a mixed methods PhD Thesis, available here, at the University of Chicago:

Perez-Felkner, L. (2009). Cultivating mobility: Social pathways to educational attainment (Order No. 3362464). Available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global. (305062579). Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/305062579

Here is the link to the mixed methods PhD thesis of one of my colleagues there - Elizabeth McGhee Hassrick: http://search.proquest.com/dissertations/docview/304796649/DC34A241356D4664PQ/1?accountid=4840

My student Samantha Nix is finishing her multiple method dissertation this year.

Both of these colleagues are on ResearchGate and I'm sure would be happy to engage with you further about their processes and models.

Ehhmmm - if no-one minds me saying - shouldn't all mixed-methods PhD theses be presented as one study? The only alternative is to present the different methods separately - and then that wouldn't be a single thesis - or a single project. 

Anna - you can't have 3 seperate studies to make a mixed-methods study. They have to be aligned from the beginning - otherwise they are simply just three seperate studies that are linked by the topic matter alone.

The attached chapter might illuminate.

Many thanks for all your suggestions and comments, it is really helpful to see how work of this type can be presented in different ways. As Dean suggests my work is actually one study - an evaluation of an intervention - that utilises mixed-methods (specifically quantitative monitoring of physical activity, and qualitative participant observations and interviews). Thus, I have only one methods chapter and am currently exploring the most appropriate way to present the findings. Thus, any other suggestions of similar examples would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks

Hi Again,

Thank you Dean for the clarification. I fully agree with your comment, and the example I uploaded is indeed on study with separate methods applied. But I can see how my choice of words in the comment might suggest otherwise. Best of luck to you, Jennifer.

Mine is still being examined.So i can not attach a copy here.I will however,avail it after the examination process.However,i used an exploratory sequential mixed methods design ,in which i collected qualitative data by means of a free-thought listing survey ,semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions.The findings from the qualitative strand were used to construct questionnaire items for quantitative strand of the study.Qualitative data was analysed by means of the NVivo software ,while the SPSS was used for quantitative data analysis.

May postgraduate students/researchers think that collection of both quantitative data and qualitative data leads to a mixed-methods study. Designing, implementing and reporting the results of a mixed research is very difficult, although in books and research articles it appeare to be an easy task. Instead of recommending a PhD thesis for you, I suggest that you consider the following thematic structure:

Chapter One: Introduction

Chapter Two: Literature Review

Chapter Three: Methodology

Chapter Four: results of quantitative data analysis

Chapter Five: results of qualitative data analysis

Chapter Six: Answering Research Questions

Chapter Seven: Discussion and conclusion

Many thanks Omer. I have already now been awarded my PhD, however I did follow a very similar structure to the one you suggested in the end - i didn’t have a “answering research questions” chapter but instead had a “mixed method analysis” chapter where I presented case studies that combined the multiple data sources. Thanks for all your responses.

Thank you all of you too. I am working on a mix-method approach.

Hi, following on from this discussion...

I am currently completing my PhD thesis by compilation. I initially thought my thesis design aligned with a sequential mixed methods approach. However, reading this thread I am now unsure and open to your expert opinions.

My research is exploring the translation of evidence based nutrition guidelines for patients with head and neck cancer to practice, from the perspectives of stakeholders. I have two specific hypotheses and three research questions that direct a quan -> quan-> qual -> qual -> qual -> qual approach.

Currently my thesis looks like this:

- Intro and background literature review

- Methodology on the thesis design (introduce the sequential participant selection mixed method approach)

- study chapters 1 and 2 provide quant data that identifies and describes the local head and neck cancer population and identifies areas warranting further qualitative exploration in terms of the implementation of evidence based nutrition care.

- Study chapters 3-6 use qualitative research with patients and healthcare-professionals to understand how specific recommendations from the evidence based guidelines are enacted in practice.

- The final two chapters will provide an overarching discussion and conclusion which brings the study chapter findings together to address the overarching hypotheses and research questions.

The individual study chapter methods are quite diverse and include systematic literature reviews, an observational cohort study and qualitative grounded theory studies etc. I believe it would be confusing to describe all of these methods in the methodology chapter at the start of the thesis. Hence, was thinking of including them in each chapter, in line with the thesis by compilation approach.

Question: is this a mixed method PhD thesis?