Most dissertations have a theory chapter at the beginning that lays out all research questions, regardless of methods. I would definitely have the hypotheses with your research questions in this theory chapter. That way, you can reference them throughout later.

A sequential design points to independent stages of data collection and analysis. In a sequential exploratory mixed methods design (QUAL --> quan), the first stage, which is prioritized, is for gathering qualitative data that is used to construct a theory or a hypothesis to be tested using quantitative data (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2018). Logically, answering your question, your hypothesis should come after you analyze qualitative data. You could refer to the book by Creswell and Plano Clark (2018) for enriching inputs. You might also consider Passey's (2020) study a guiding example. Besides, the article by Schoonenboom and Johnson (2017) could be an interesting read.

Creswell, J. W., & Plano Clark, V. L. (2018). Designing and conducting mixed methods research (3rd ed.). SAGE. https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/designing-and-conducting-mixed-methods-research/book241842

Passey, D. (2020). Sequential exploratory mixed methods: A case study examining managers’ support for wellness programs. SAGE Publications Ltd. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781529709551

Schoonenboom, J., & Johnson, R. B. (2017). How to construct a mixed methods research design. KZfSS Kölner Zeitschrift Für Soziologie Und Sozialpsychologie, 69(S2), 107–131. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11577-017-0454-1

Good luck,

in chapter one , you should state your resrach hypothesis.

Thank you all very much!

I agree with everything Mohialdeen Alotumi said, except for his notation on exploratory sequential designs, which I believe should be qual --> QUAN. In particular, the design for the secondary, qualitative method is determined by the needs of the primary, quantitative method, so it is the dominant method.

If you are indeed using the preliminary qualitative method to generate hypotheses, then you should concentrate on the larger research questions in your introduction. But if you are only using the preliminary study for something like producing the content in a survey, then that amounts to operationalizing your hypotheses, which should be well defined in advance.

Interesting input by David L Morgan; however, using uppercase letters is to indicate priority or dominance (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2018; Johnson & Christensen, 2017).

Creswell, J. W., & Plano Clark, V. L. (2018). Designing and conducting mixed methods research (3rd ed.). SAGE. https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/designing-and-conducting-mixed-methods-research/book241842

Johnson, B., & Christensen, L. B. (2017). Educational research: Quantitative, qualitative, and mixed approaches (6th ed.). SAGE Publications, Inc. https://edge.sagepub.com/rbjohnson6e

Attachments source: Johnson and Christensen (2017)

Besides, Creswell and Plano Clark (2018) dissected four variants of exploratory sequential design. Each variant has its notation depending on what is prioritized and what comes in the middle stage. For example, qual --> development --> QUAN could be used for instrument development and validation. For exploring and generalizing findings, the notation (QUAL --> quan) stands sound. The examples by Creswell and Plano Clark (2018) are interesting.

Creswell, J. W., & Plano Clark, V. L. (2018). Designing and conducting mixed methods research (3rd ed.). SAGE. https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/designing-and-conducting-mixed-methods-research/book241842

Best,

My standard is that the primary method (all caps) determines the design of the secondary (lower case) method.