Description+of+Data+Collection+technique+and+approach

Mixed Methods Approach toc

**Types of Data Collection Techniques and Approaches **
Mixed Methods design is using the elements of both //qualitative// and //quantitative// research methods. It is simply a **triangulation** of the two methods that forms the third approach to determining data as described from the article by Symonds and Gorard (2010) //Death of Mixed Methods? Or the Rebirth of Research as a Craft.// In addition to the article of Symonds and Gorard (2010), the definitions below help explain how mixed methods is a combination of the two methods, qualitative and quantitative, and yet it is how the methods are analyzed that makes the process mixed.

The first definition from an article by Johnson, Onweegbuzie, and Turner (2007) states that:  >>>> Mixed methods research is the type of research in which a research or team of researchers combines elements of qualitative and quantitative research approaches (e.g., use of qualitative and quantitative viewpoints, data collection, analysis, inference techniques) for the broad purpose of breadth and depth of understanding and corroboration. (Johnson et al., 2007, p. 118)

The second definition is from the //Handbook of mixed methods research// and is almost identical:  >>>> Mixed methods is a research design with philosophical assumptions as well as methods of inquiry. As a methodology, it involves philosophical assumptions that guide the direction of the collection and analysis of data and the mixture of qualitative and quantitative approaches in many phases in the research process. As a method, it focuses on collecting, analyzing, and mixing both quantitative and qualitative data in a single study or series of studies. (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2007, p. 5)

Therefore, what is mixed methods? It is the mixture of the other two methods, but analyzing the information and elements in a manner that is not traditional to either qualitative or quantitative alone.

**When to choose Mixed Methods over the other research methods? **
There is not one easy answer for this question which is easily demonstrated using the tables below from //Death of Mixed Methods? Or the Rebirth of Research as a Craft// (Symonds & Gorard, 2010, pp 125-126).

Table 1 is describing the perspectives of using mixed method and the corresponding relationship to qualitative and quantitative approaches. And in Table 2, the two approaches are presented in a comparison chart to show how similar they are and depending on how you looked at the data would the type of approach change.





Therefore, it isn’t the fact of what method to choose, but it is how the data is being evaluated that determines which method is the best choice. Such as, in the category of data collection tools, a questionnaire can be quantitative if it is closed-ended and structured, but when the use of a questionnaire is to not only look at the numerical results, but to analyze the behaviors of the participants while filling in the questionnaire, then it blends together and is now mixed methods.

Mixed methods approach has strengths that traditional qualitative and quantitative methods alone do not. For example the concept of triangulation, which is described as using //multitrait// or //multimethod// research in that multiple quantitative measures are taken in a single study and in finding the juxtapose of the multiple methods allows for the facets to be identified (Symonds & Gorard, 2010, p. 129).

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">The other advantage of mixed methods is typology. Using mixed methods, research questions can be multiple or singular but they all can have a variety of methods. The typology of mixed methods design can be seen in Table 3 below from //Death of Mixed Methods? Or the Rebirth of Research as a Craft// (Symonds & Gorard, 2010, p. 130). <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">

**<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 24px;">How would you gather the information for Mixed Methods Approach in research? **
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">The question here is not the how to gather, but what to analyze and how to use the information. The framework to gather the information for mixed methods approach is the same as for the quantitative and qualitative approaches. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">The table below displays information gathering techniques for both approaches. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">The information is from //Action Research a Guide for the Teacher Researcher// (Mills, 2011). <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">(Mills, 2011, p. 73) || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Quantitative Data Collection Techniques <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">(Mills, 2011, p. 92) ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Qualitative Data Collection Techniques
 * * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Existing archival courses within a school
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Tools for capturing everyday life
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Tools for questioning
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Conventional sources (surveys, questionnaires, etc.)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Inventive sources (exhibits, portfolios, etc.)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Interviews
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Oral history and narrative stories
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Rating scales
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Inventories
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Observation
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Mapping
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Visual recordings
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Photography
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Journals and diaries || * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Teacher-made tests
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Standardized tests
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">School-generated report cards
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Attitude scales
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Likert scales
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Semantic differential ||