Use when designing mixed methods research that integrates qualitative and quantitative approaches.
Mixed methods combines qualitative and quantitative strands to answer questions neither can fully address alone. Integration is the hard part: designs specify sequence, priority, and mixing points.
Advanced variants (embedded, transformative, multiphase) add complexity—match to aims and ethics.
Common techniques:
Document where integration happens and who decides how conflicts are resolved.
Mixed methods can sit within pragmatism (many US textbooks), critical realism, or transformative frames. Declare how you handle incommensurability if paradigms clash—integration is easier when you articulate a coherent stance.
Use when you need both pattern/generalization-oriented evidence and meaning/process depth—or when one strand reduces waste in the other (e.g., QUAL discovers constructs before QUAN measures them).
GT can occupy the qualitative strand, especially in exploratory sequencing. Risks:
Mitigate by protecting iterative coding cycles and treating integration as dialogue, not automatic trump rules.
Beyond mono-method rigor, assess:
Use diagrams of the design; specify priority, sequence, purpose of each strand, and integration points. Follow MMARS or journal-specific mixed-methods reporting guidance when required.