What are the other ways in which I can do mixed methods? I'm just a beginner in the research arena. Maybe, you could provide also some resources here which can help me. Thank you!
Dear Louie Giray,
Yes. It is considered mixed method when you use this combination. The point here is what kind of mixed method design and what are the function of each question.
I will offer a chapter that I think is one of the best to describe it. I don't know the authors personally, but they are very very good.
Creswell, J. W., & Clark, V. L. P. (2010). Choosing a mixed methods design. In J. W. Creswell & V. L. P. Clark (Eds.), Designing and conducting mixed methods research (2nd ed., pp. 53–106). Sage. https://doi.org/1412927927
Mixed methods is a pragmatic approach to research. It could be qualitative followed by quantitative or the vice versa.
I agree with Amalia Raquel Pérez Nebra that the key issue is matching your research design to your research question. Can you tell us more about your research goals?
Quantitative data can help you understand what happened. Qualitative data can help you understand the experiences of the participants.
Your qualitative data could be open-ended answers to a survey, other written documents created during the study, or spoken answers in an interview (transcribed into text for analysis).
Here is a method that may help you understand how to analyze the text or spoken words converted into text.
Method Critical Text Theme Analysis
Mixed Methods Research (MMR) is a type of scientific investigation that combines qualitative and quantitative approaches into a single study based on a solid rationale. There are three main MMR designs: Convergent, exploratory sequential, and explanatory sequential. In the convergent design, a researcher gathers and analyzes two databases—quantitative (e.g., via structured questionnaire) and qualitative (e.g., via unstructured interview)—in parallel before merging the two databases to compare or combine the results. In the exploratory sequential MMR design, a study is done in two distinct stages. In the first stage, the researcher starts with and often prioritizes gathering and analyzing qualitative data; the results of which they utilize in the follow-up stage to develop their quantitative feature of the inquiry. In contrast, the investigator adopted the explanatory sequential MMR design begins first with the quantitative-data collection-and-analysis stage and devotes the second stage to the qualitative data to explain or refine the quantitative findings. You could check out the textbooks below for insightful guidance on MMR.
Creswell, J. W. (2021). A concise introduction to mixed methods research (2nd ed.). SAGE. https://us.sagepub.com/hi/cab/a-concise-introduction-to-mixed-methods-research/book266037
Creswell, J. W., & Plano Clark, V. L. (2018). Designing and conducting mixed methods research (3rd ed.). SAGE. https://us.sagepub.com/hi/cab/designing-and-conducting-mixed-methods-research/book241842
Tashakkori, A., Johnson, R. B., & Teddlie, C. (2021). Foundations of mixed methods research: Integrating quantitative and qualitative approaches in the social and behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). SAGE. https://us.sagepub.com/hi/cab/foundations-of-mixed-methods-research/book252072
Good luck,
Not just survey, but you can use many other qualitative data collection tools to collect data and incorporate it with quantitative analysis.
Yes, but it largely depends on the main question of your research. Why and how the data are combined according to the question, and the synthesis of evidence is very important in such research.