Mixed Methods Research: A Guide to the Field

This practical book introduces a unique socio-ecological framework for understanding the field of mixed methods research and its different perspectives. Based on the framework, it addresses basic questions including: What is the mixed methods research process? How is mixed methods research defined? Why is it used? What designs are available? How does mixed methods research intersect with other research approaches? What is mixed methods research quality? How is mixed methods shaped by personal, interpersonal, and social contexts? By focusing on the topics, perspectives, and debates occurring in the field of mixed methods research, the book helps students, scholars, and researchers identify, understand, and participate in these conversations to inform their own research practice.

 Mixed Methods Research is Volume 3 in the SAGE Mixed Methods Research Series.

Vicki L. Plano Clark, PhD, is professor of research methods in the College of Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services at the University of Cincinnati, USA.  She is an applied research methodologist who studies, applies, teaches, mentors, consults, and writes about the adoption and use of mixed methods research. Her scholarship focuses on resolving methodological issues associated with mixed methods designs and understanding larger contexts that influence the application of mixed methods research. Her writings include Designing and Conducting Mixed Methods Research (4th edition, Sage Publishing, 2027, coauthored with John W. Creswell) and Mixed Methods Research: A Guide to the Field (2016, Sage Publishing, coauthored with Nataliya V. Ivankova). She serves as Associate Editor for the Journal of Mixed Methods Research and was a founding Editor of the Mixed Methods Research Series with Sage Publishing. She has held leadership roles for the Mixed Methods Research Special Interest Group and the Teaching and Learning Research Methods Special Interest Group of the American Educational Research Association (AERA). She is dedicated to advancing opportunities for students and scholars across disciplines to understand and apply diverse research methods to address important real-world problems.

Nataliya Ivankova, PhD, MPH, is professor in the Department of Health Services Administration with a dual appointment in the School of Nursing at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She is an applied methodologist working at the intersection of mixed methods, qualitative, community-based, and translational research. She has developed a methodological framework for a sequential quantitative to qualitative mixed methods design that was used in this study. She teaches courses in mixed methods and qualitative research, mentors doctoral students and junior faculty, and serves as a lead methodologist on funded projects. She also directs a graduate certificate program in Applications of Mixed Methods Research. She is a founding co-editor of the Mixed Methods Research Series with SAGE Publishing and is an associate editor for the Journal of Mixed Methods Research and a qualitative research editor for the American Journal of Health Behavior.