Mixed-Method Study

Quantitative, Qualitative, and Mixed-Methods Research Approaches

In quantitative research, the focus is on deduction, theory evaluation, and generalizability of findings across time and contexts. Quantitative methods of inquiry seek to standardize participants’ responses and analyze numeric information including survey, observational, narrative, and physiological data. This type of research addresses questions of cause-and-effect as well as mediating and moderating processes. Strengths of a quantitative design include the ability to observe trends across participants and generalize findings across diverse samples. Quantitative methods, however, are critiqued for inadequately capturing the complexity of phenomena and neglecting more nuanced variations in local contexts that influence development.

In contrast, qualitative research focuses on making sense of human experiences in localized contexts. In qualitative research, explanations are inductively generated, the motivation is to generate theory (rather than evaluate it), and the goal is to provide a rich description of a phenomenon (rather than to predict it). Qualitative methods include an array of data-collection strategies including interviews, observations, and field notes that generate narrative or observational data that are not numerical in nature or converted to numerical representations for analysis. A central aim of qualitative methods is to provide an in-depth description of people’s experiences or phenomena situated in local ecologies, accounting for the historical and cultural settings that influence development. Limitations of qualitative methods include that findings cannot be generalized across individuals or contexts, and causal inferences cannot be determined.

In the mid- to late 1980s, mixed-methods research grew out of the recognition that both quantitative and qualitative methods had biases and weaknesses that could be addressed by combining the strengths of each approach. [Page 1424]Pragmatism is a key consideration of a mixed-methods approach—choosing methods best suited to answering research questions based on practical as well as theoretical considerations. Mixed-methods research can take place within a single study or across multiple studies and can be used across a variety of research designs relevant to life-span development, including experimental and nonexperimental studies, as well as longitudinal and cross-sectional studies.

There are numerous considerations (and benefits) to a mixed-methods approach. The integration of quantitative and qualitative strands of data can occur at various points of the research process, including during study design, data collection, analysis, or interpretation, and ideally should be determined by the study purpose. Mixed-methods researchers also make decisions about whether the quantitative and qualitative strands happen concurrently or sequentially, and whether one method carries more or less prominence in meeting the study aims.

...