Peer-reviewed+Journal+Articles

Naquin, M., Cole, D., Bowers, A., & Walkwitz, E. (2010). Environmental health knowledge, attitudes, and practices of students in grades four through eight. //Journal of Research//, 6(2), 45-50.
 * __Mixed Methods Research Study Examples __**
 * Example #1 **

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>>>>  This study aims to examine the environmental health knowledge, attitudes, and practices of students in a southeastern Louisiana school. Researchers wanted to know if students realized the implications of their actions on the environment around them. There were more than 100 students involved in grades 4 through 8. A mixed research methods approach was employed utilizing both qualitative and quantitative data and responses from a survey. Students took the survey in the school’s computer lab, and were allowed to take as long as necessary to complete it. Qualitative questions included open-ended response items such as, “Can the environment affect our health? If so, how?” (Naquin, Cole, Bowers, & Walkwitz, 2010). There were also simple, closed-ended “yes” and “no” response questions which allowed for quantitative analysis.

>>>>  Qualitative analysis in this study involved looking at open-ended responses and categorizing them by themes related to the environment (recycling, conservation, littering, etc.) so they could be quantified and studied. Quantitative analysis involved frequency counts and percentages across grade levels, ages, and sexes. Chi-square statistics were also utilized to see if there were statistically significant differences between the various groups at the .05 level.

>>>>  The researchers found drastic statistically significant differences in responses by students at various ages and grade levels. They found, for example, that older students understood more of the relationship between themselves and the environment than younger students did. They also found that males were more understanding of elements like global warming while females better understood the importance of conserving water in simple instances like while brushing teeth (Naquin, Cole, Bowers, & Walkwitz, 2010). There were also some universally understood themes at all ages and grade levels, such as the importance of recycling (Naquin, Cole, Bowers, & Walkwitz, 2010). Overall, this study was meant to serve as a starting point for understanding student attitudes and practices and how educators can better mold those so that students are better stewards of the environment as adults.

**Example #2 ** Slate, J. R., Jones, C. H., Weisman, K., Alexander, J., & Saenz, T. (2008). School mission statements and school performance: a mixed research investigation. //New Horizons in Education//, 56(2), 17-27.

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[] >>>>  The researchers in this study wanted to find out if there were common themes in the mission statements of schools that perform well versus those that do not. They studied 100 schools across the state of Texas, with half being high-performing and half low-performing according to achievement test scores. The mission statements for all these schools were studied and ranked by 15 themes they contained such as “academic success, challenge, citizenship, life-long learning…and social development,” (Slate, Jones, Weisman, Alexander, & Saenz, 2008). These themes were then changed from their qualitative rankings to quantitative by assigning a number to the theme – “0” if not present and “1” if present. Chi-square tests were then performed to see if there were statistically significant differences between the statements at the .05 level.

>>>>  The researchers found that there were differences between the high and low performing school mission statements that were statistically significant. They found that high-performing schools were twice as likely to mention academic success in their statements as low-performing schools. They also found that challenge was mentioned by 4.5 times more high-performing schools than low-performing ones (Slate, Jones, Weisman, Alexander, & Saenz, 2008). There were also several other themes (citizenship, empowerment, and social development) which were also mentioned more in high-performing than low. Overall, this study points to the idea that a clear and concise mission statement guides a school to success and high-performance. By contrast, a vague statement has the opposite effect.

**Example #3 **

Sammons, P., Day, C., Kingston, A., Gu, Q., Stobart, G., & Smees, R. (2007). Exploring variations in teachers’ work, lives and their effects on pupils: key findings and implications from a longitudinal mixed-method study. //British Educational Research Journal//, 33(5), 681-701.

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 This study seeks to examine a wide variety of factors regarding teachers and their effectiveness. A few variables examined include teacher personality and their personal lives, years of experience, the amount of professional development engaged in, and the strength of leadership at grade and building levels. Two types of research data were gathered – qualitative in the form of survey data collected from teachers regarding such attributes as the characteristics of their personal lives and quantitative in the form of years experience and student test results on national tests.

 While a very long-winded study with a great deal of explanation from other research studies, the researchers did find a few characteristics worthy of mentioning here. First, they found that a teacher’s positive self-identity is associated with their well-being and is a key contributor to their effectiveness with students (Sammons, P., Day, C., Kingston, A., Gu, Q., Stobart, G., & Smees, R., 2007). They also found that teachers do not necessarily become more effective over time, with a seeming “top-out” in years 6-9 (Sammons, P., Day, C., Kingston, A., Gu, Q., Stobart, G., & Smees, R., 2007). Overall, they found that who a teacher is and their commitment to a positive work environment were important factors in, and contributors to, student success.