Hello. Welcome. I'm Mike Fetters. I'm a professor in the Department of Family
Medicine at the University of Michigan. I'm also the co-director of the
Michigan Mixed Methods Research and Scholarship Program. I am also the
co-chief editor of the Journal of mixed methods research.
Okay, so we're going to
talk about the Mixed Methods Research Integration Trilogy and It's Dimensions. I
think you're gonna find this really interesting and very new. So the key to
achieving greater value in mixed methods research is the notion of
integration. The idea of integration previously, was largely taken to mean
just bringing together of the qualitative and quantitative findings,
and then achieving a more comprehensive meaning or understanding.
In our editorial in the "Journal of Mixed Methods Research", with my co-author
José Francisco Melina-Azorin, we introduced the mixed methods research integration
trilogy and it's dimensions. In the editorial we define integration in the
context of mixed methods research as the linking of qualitative and quantitative
approaches and dimensions together to create a new whole or a more holistic
understanding than achieved by either alone.
Over the past three decades a mixed methods tsunami has been moving across the globe as
researchers of all backgrounds have been discovering modern mixed methods
research. While researchers in many fields have used qualitative and
quantitative procedures together for centuries, modern mixed methods differs
because it's referring to the development of systematic approaches and
rhetoric that allows researchers to share common procedures and language
across many disciplines. And I'm going to deviate a minute, just to talk about how
mixed methods research is a very simple idea. Mixed methods researchers unite the
strengths of both qualitative and quantitative research. Previously, with my
colleague Don Freshwater, we summarized this as the equation of "one plus one
equals three". That is, when you bring together the qualitative approach 'one'
with a quantitative approach 'one', mixed methods researchers strive to achieve a
sum of three, something greater than the value of the individual parts. So the
mixed methods trilogy helps us advance this thinking. And how it does that, the
mixed methods integration trilogy symbolizes and extends, more
comprehensively, how all dimensions of the mixed methods research approach can
be integrated. The philosophical, methodological, and methods comprise the
three key aspects of the mixed methods research trilogy. The mixed methods
research integration trilogy provides an overarching conceptualization of how
mixed methods researchers can then mix both qualitative and quantitative
traditions in a systematic way. We define the integration trilogy as an
overarching concept that includes all dimensions. We're philosophers,
ethicists, methodologists, applied researchers, and other academicians can
consider in a meaningful way mixed methods approaches at the
philosophical, methodological, and methods level to inform an all-encompassing
mixed methods research approach. Now, to illustrate this for you conceptually, we
use a triangle with the three sides of the philosophical, methodological, and
methods, with integration located centrally, as shown in the figure. The
philosophical side of the triangle denotes the system of thought and
theoretical underpinnings about the nature of reality, also referred to
technically, as ontology. It also involves knowledge, also known as epistemology, and
values: axiology. Thus far, mixed methods researchers have conceptualized no less
than five philosophical stances that justify using mixed methods research.
These include pragmatism, participatory transformative, critical realism,
post-modernism, and dialectical pluralism. Dialectical pluralism stands unique
among these stances, as it justifies the use of different philosophical stances in a
single mixed methods research study. So we've talked about the philosophical, now
we want to talk about the methodological side of the triangle. This signifies the
principles and underlying theory and system of methods use for conducting
mixed methods research. Finally, in addition to the philosophical and the
methodological, is the method side of the triangle, and this refers to the
procedures, techniques, approaches, and skills used to conduct mixed methods research.
In sum, the mixed methods trilogy expands thinking about
integration, as not just a technique for combining data collection and analysis,
but it's an overarching concept for the mixed methods approach.
When discussing integration and the context of mixed methods research, the final lesson is for
you, as a mixed methods researcher, to be specific about the particular dimension
when you refer to integration. Now, for more about integration through the
philosophical, methodological, and methods dimensions, consider watching some of our
other video abstracts about the mixed methods research integration trilogy and
it's dimensions.
I would like to thank my co-editor, José Francisco Melina-Azorin
who I co-authored this editorial with, and I would also like to acknowledge my
colleagues at the Michigan Mixed Methods Program. The co-director of
the Mixed Methods Program Dr. John Creswell, and other mixed methodologists
serving on our Program Executive Committee: Jane Forman, Tim Guetterman,
Arden Morris, and Sara Warber.
If you would like further information
about conducting mixed methods research, contact us at the Michigan Mixed Methods
Program. Our web address is at www.mixedmethods.org.
Thanks and good luck in your mixed methods adventures.