Often, you’ll find the most effective and thorough way to meet your goals is by using multiple methods to answer your research question.
Why Use Mixed or Multi Methods?
- Mixed or multi methods help to ensure the validity of results through triangulation.
- They also help you collect data from different sides of a topic, to get a fuller picture.
What are Mixed and Multi Methods?
Mixed or multi methods approaches combine different methods for a few different reasons:
- To triangulate data, that is, to confirm data gathered one way with data gathered in a different way.
- To expand on findings, that is, to add either deeper context or enhance the application of findings gained through one method my adding another.
- To compare/contrast such as when focus groups helps you to see how data from an interview or survey is changed as a result of the dynamics of a group who is asked the same questions.
Mixed or Multi Method Research Design:
- Choices for mixed methods often depend on time and resources available.
- There are as many different ways to do mixed methods as there are methods themselves.
- Common approaches include:
- Survey, followed by interviews (or vice-versa).
- Focus groups followed by individual interviews (or vice-versa).
- Survey, where the data is used to create questions for a focus group or world café.
- Focus groups, where the data is used to create questions for a survey.
- Text analysis of documents, followed by interviews, focus groups, or surveys.
- Surveys, focus groups or interviews, followed by a text analysis of documents, looking for the themes uncovered in the surveys, focus groups or interviews.
- In 1, 4, and 5, above, following a small sample approach such as interviews, focus groups, or text analysis with a large sample approach such as a survey allows you to triangulate and verify results to a broader population.
- Inc, 3 and 6, above, following a large sample approach such as surveys with a small sample. approach such as interviews or focus groups allows you to gather deeper context for your data
- In 2, above, contrasting two methods like focus groups and individual interviews allows you to consider the role of group dynamics in shaping opinion.