Educational Practice: Mixed Methods Research Report Analysis

This report provides a comprehensive overview of mixed methods research, emphasizing its significance in educational practice. It begins by defining mixed methods research and highlighting its ability to integrate qualitative and quantitative data, thereby supporting a more thorough understanding of research problems. The report then addresses the challenges associated with this approach, such as the need for methodological expertise and the complexities of data integration. It further explores the selection and utilization of appropriate mixed research designs, with a preference for the convergent parallel mixed research design, explaining its benefits in combining data sets and identifying inconsistencies. The report concludes by reiterating the value of mixed methods research as a robust methodology for educational studies and emphasizes the importance of the convergent parallel design for achieving comprehensive and valid research outcomes. References from various academic sources are also included to support the findings.

Understanding Research
Methods for Educational
Practice
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Table of Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................2
Mixed method research supports the concept of research............................................................................2
Challenges of using mixed methods research..............................................................................................2
Selection and utilization of appropriate mixed research design...................................................................3
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................................4
References...................................................................................................................................................5

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Introduction
Mixed methods research is used in understanding the contradictions among qualitative findings
and quantitative results. The paper will help in analyzing the effectiveness of using mixed
methods research within the concept of research. It will determine the challenges of using this
approach along with the selection of best design that is to be used while conducting research.
Mixed method research supports the concept of research
Mixed method is determined to be a developing method of research which improves the
combination or methodical incorporation of qualitative along with quantitative data into a
continued program of review or study. To realize the effectiveness of mixed-method that
supports the concept of research, it is significant to identify whether the study utilized a
combined approach (Clark & Creswell, 2015). The utilization of mixed-method is regarded as a
distinctive approach to research that possesses its standards, procedures and design. It helps in
identifying the key terms used within research and analyzing and collecting both qualitative and
quantitative data.
It supports the researchers to demonstrate their rational within their report by utilizing
appropriate mixed methods. It helps the researchers in finding the rationale based on the purpose
statement at the start of the method section or in the introduction (McKim, 2017). It is also
helpful when the researcher is required to combine the strengths of qualitative and quantitative
data. As a result, it helps in gaining a better understanding of the research problem. It also
supports building from one type of data to another and when the researchers seek to answer
appropriate questions.
Challenges of utilizing mixed methods research
While utilizing mixed methods research, there occur various challenges that enforces a
researcher to combine qualitative and quantitative research. However, there occurs a difference
between qualitative and quantitative research that leads to various challenges. In such cases, the
research problem call for exploration and explanation, whereas the research purpose must be
general and broad or specific and narrow (Shannon-Baker & Edwards, 2018). Most of the time,
the gathered data must be in open-ended forms or closed-ended forms, while the role of the
researcher must be subjective or objective. There occur various variances related to these

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approaches due to which it becomes difficult for the researchers to combine both types of
research in a study. Using mixed methods research is challenging as it enforces researchers to
demonstrate their rationale within their report that must be appropriate, followed by utilizing
mixed methods (Bazeley, 2016). Furthermore, it also requires post-fieldwork integration of
qualitative as well as quantitative data which is more challenging as compared to the execution
of research. Using mixed methods research requires the researchers to merge all the mixed
method data in a comprehensible form. Thus, it can be said that utilization of mixed methods
research needs methodological expertise in different areas which requires an excessive amount of
logistic agility, training, money and time.
Selection and utilization of appropriate mixed research design
Mixed method research design comprises of three characteristics such as mixing, priority and
timing that helps in identifying and understanding different ways researchers use to combine
qualitative and quantitative research. Among the nine different types of mixed methods research
designs, I will prefer to use convergent parallel mixed reserach design as it helps in collecting
both qualitative as well as quantitative data. This mixed-methods design can be used as it helps
in analyzing two datasets separately by synthesizing or comparing the two data sets of separate
results and making the entire interpretation (Brown, Strickland-Munro, Kobryn & Moore, 2017).
It also helps in gaining a complete and valid conclusion regarding a particular topic, along with
its strengths and weaknesses. This indicates that using this research method helps in
acknowledging that the two different types of research are implemented in parallel and then
combined to create a better understanding of the phenomenon. Furthermore, by comparing
qualitative and quantitative results, this particular design can also help in identifying
inconsistencies in the research outcomes (Shannon-Baker, 2016). It helps the researchers to gain
more opportunity to gather more information regarding the phenomenon by evaluating the
inconsistencies that emerged from the results. This particular mixed methods design can be used
as it gives equal priority for addressing the purpose of the research.

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Conclusion
Mixed methods research is regarded as a methodology for having a research which includes
gathering, incorporating and evaluating qualitative along with quantitative research. It is seen
that this particular approach helps in stating the rationale of the research. However, convergent
parallel mixed research design is regarded as the best design as it utilizes both quantitative as
well as qualitative data.

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References
Bazeley, P. (2016). Mixed or merged? Integration as the real challenge for mixed
methods. Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management: An International
Journal, 11(3), 189-194.
Brown, G., Strickland-Munro, J., Kobryn, H., & Moore, S. A. (2017). Mixed methods
participatory GIS: An evaluation of the validity of qualitative and quantitative mapping
methods. Applied geography, 79, 153-166.
Clark, V. L. P., & Creswell, J. W. (2015). Understanding research: A consumer's guide. Upper
Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
McKim, C. A. (2017). The value of mixed methods research: A mixed methods study. Journal of
Mixed Methods Research, 11(2), 202-222.
Shannon-Baker, P. (2016). Making paradigms meaningful in mixed methods research. Journal
of mixed methods research, 10(4), 319-334.
Shannon-Baker, P., & Edwards, C. (2018). The Affordances and Challenges to Incorporating
Visual Methods in Mixed Methods Research. American Behavioral Scientist, 62(7), 935-
955.