Mixed Methodologies

Readings, Classifications and Dialogue: an evaluation of two research articles

by Nigel Newton

An evaluation of two distinct research papers with the aim of classification and evaluation.

How do we classify and evaluate published research articles? The discussion that follows will challenge aspects... more How do we classify and evaluate published research articles? The discussion that follows will challenge aspects implicit in standard methods of classification, while illustrating the importance of definition as a tool for enhancing the value derived from reading research articles. The task will provide a brief resumé of the contents of two published academic articles, methods of classifying research articles will be explored and, finally, an alternative method of evaluation will be explored. 

Studying local-to-global tourism dynamics through glocal ethnography

by Noel B. Salazar

Salazar, Noel B. 2010. Studying local-to-global tourism dynamics through glocal ethnography. In C. M. Hall (Ed.), Fieldwork in tourism: Methods, issues and reflections (pp. 177-187). London: Routledge.

Researching tourism in Asia, like elsewhere in the world, is a fascinating but extremely challenging endeavour. Since... more Researching tourism in Asia, like elsewhere in the world, is a fascinating but extremely challenging endeavour. Since tourism is a multi-layered phenomenon – marked by a plethora of politico-economic, socio-cultural, and other processes of production, consumption, representation, and regulation on local, national, regional, and global levels – many studies fail to understand and explain it adequately. Collaborative, mixed-methods, and multi-sited research have been proposed as possible ways to tackle and unpack tourism’s complexity. However, these are demanding to engage with as a graduate student, often with limited time, experience, and resources. Using my dissertation fieldwork in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, as an example, I demonstrate how a “glocal ethnography” approach helped me capturing the details of the local tourism scene while at the same time paying attention to how that local reality is firmly embedded in and continuously interacting with broader processes and power structures. In this chapter, I offer a tentative description of what glocal ethnography entails and I illustrate the use of this methodology in my own study of tour guiding.

Γ. Τσιώλης: Η σχέση ποιοτικής και ποσοτικής έρευνας στις κοινωνικές επιστήμες: Από την πολεμική των «παραδειγμάτων» στις συνθετικές προσεγγίσεις; Στο Μ.Δαφέρμος, Μ.Σαματάς, Μ.Κουκουριτάκης & Σ.Χιωτάκης (επιμ.) Οι κοινωνικές επιστήμες στον 21ο αιώνα. Επίμαχα θέματα και προκλήσεις. Αθήνα: Πεδίο, 2011.

by Giorgos Tsiolis

http://www.pediobooks.gr/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&catid=8&id=237&lang=el

Toward a Mixed Methods Measure: Concept Maps, Salience, and Multistage Analysis

by Johannes Wheeldon

A cross-disciplinary examination of the prevalence of mixed methods in educational research: 1995-2005

by Caitlin Dooley

Truscott, D., Smith, S., Swars, S., Thornton-Reid, F., Zhao, Y., Dooley, C. M., Williams, B., Hart, L., & Matthews, M. (2009). A cross-disciplinary examination of the prevalence of mixed methods in educational research: 1995-2005. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 12, 4, 1-12.

This study examined the prevalence of mixed methods research published in 11 prominent English-language international... more This study examined the prevalence of mixed methods research published in 11 prominent English-language international and U.S. national educational research journals from 1995 to 2005. A total of 2381 studies were reviewed by research teams in four educational disciplines: literacy, mathematics, social studies, and science. Of the articles examined, 332 (14%) were identified as using mixed methods. Results suggest little variation across disciplines and across the years in the number of studies using mixed methods. Further, mixed methods, although considered uniquely suited to examine complex educational issues, does not seem to be an increasingly popular research method. Issues in defining and identifying mixed methods in educational research are discussed.

Developing and evaluating the implementation of a complex intervention: using mixed methods to inform the design of a randomised controlled trial of an oral healthcare intervention after stroke

by Marian Brady

Brady MC, Stott DJ, , Norrie J, Chalmers C, St George B, Sweeney MP, Langhorne P. Trials. 2011;12:168

Background
Many interventions delivered within the stroke rehabilitation setting could be considered complex,... more Background
Many interventions delivered within the stroke rehabilitation setting could be considered complex, though some are more complex than others. The degree of complexity might be based on the number of and interactions between levels, components and actions targeted within the intervention. The number of (and variation within) participant groups and the contexts in which it is delivered might also reflect the extent of complexity. Similarly, designing the evaluation of a complex intervention can be challenging. Considerations include the necessity for intervention standardisation, the multiplicity of outcome measures employed to capture the impact of a multifaceted intervention and the delivery of the intervention across different clinical settings operating within varying healthcare contexts. Our aim was to develop and evaluate the implementation of a complex, multidimensional oral health care (OHC) intervention for people in stroke rehabilitation settings which would inform the development of a randomised controlled trial.

Methods
After reviewing the evidence for the provision of OHC following stroke, multi-disciplinary experts informed the development of our intervention. Using both quantitative and qualitative methods we evaluated the implementation of the complex OHC intervention across patients, staff and service levels of care. We also adopted a pragmatic approach to patient recruitment, the completion of assessment tools and delivery of OHC, alongside an attention to the context in which it was delivered.

Results
We demonstrated the feasibility of implementing a complex OHC intervention across three levels of care. The complementary nature of the mixed methods approach to data gathering provided a complete picture of the implementation of the intervention and a detailed understanding of the variations within and interactions between the components of the intervention. Information on the feasibility of the outcome measures used to capture impact across a range of components was also collected, though some process orientated uncertainties including eligibility and recruitment rates remain to be further explored within a Phase II exploratory trial.

Conclusions
Complex interventions can be captured and described in a manner which facilitates evaluation in the form of exploratory and subsequently definitive clinical trials. If effective, the evidence captured relating to the intervention context will facilitate translation into clinical practice.

Considering consent: an analysis of factors influencing parental perceptions of decisional quality in the context of newborn screening.

by Stuart Nicholls

Synchronized arousal between performers and related spectators in a fire-walking ritual

by Dimitris Xygalatas

co-authored with I. Konvalinka, J. Bulbulia, U. Schjødt, E-M. Jegindø, S. Wallot, G. Van Orden, and A. Roepstorff.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 2011.

Collective rituals are present in all known societies, but their function is a matter of long-standing debates. Field... more Collective rituals are present in all known societies, but their function is a matter of long-standing debates. Field observations suggest that they may enhance social cohesion and that their effects are not limited to those actively performing but affect the audience as well. Here we show physiological effects of synchro- nized arousal in a Spanish fire-walking ritual, between active participants and related spectators, but not participants and other members of the audience. We assessed arousal by heart rate dynamics and applied nonlinear mathematical analysis to heart rate data obtained from 38 participants. We compared synchro- nized arousal between fire-walkers and spectators. For this comparison, we used recurrence quantification analysis on in- dividual data and cross-recurrence quantification analysis on pairs of participants’ data. These methods identified fine-grained com- monalities of arousal during the 30-min ritual between fire- walkers and related spectators but not unrelated spectators. This indicates that the mediating mechanism may be informational, because participants and related observers had very different bodily behavior. This study demonstrates that a collective ritual may evoke synchronized arousal over time between active partic- ipants and bystanders. It links field observations to a physiological basis and offers a unique approach for the quantification of social effects on human physiology during real-world interactions.

Living capital metrics

by William Fisher

Fisher, W. P., Jr. (2007, Summer). Living capital metrics. Rasch Measurement Transactions, 21(1), 1092-3.

Meaning and method in the social sciences.

by William Fisher

Fisher, W. P., Jr. (2004, October). Meaning and method in the social sciences. Human Studies: A Journal for Philosophy and the Social Sciences, 27(4), 429-54.

Abstract. Academia’s mathematical metaphysics are briefly explored en route to an elaboration of the qualitatively... more Abstract. Academia’s mathematical metaphysics are briefly explored en route to an elaboration of the qualitatively rigorous requirements underpinning the calibration and unambiguous interpretation of quantitative instrumentation in any science. Of particular interest are Gadamer’s emphases on number as the paradigm of the noetic, on the role of play in interpretation, and on Hegel’s sense of method as the activity of the thing itself that thought experiences. These point toward and overlap with (1) Latour’s study of the metrological social networks through which technological phenomena are brought into language as modes of being that can be understood, and (2) the way that Rasch’s models for measurement comprise a potential beginning for metaphysically astute, qualitatively and quantitatively integrated, mathematical methods in the social sciences. The paper closes with observations on the general problem that is philosophy, the need to remain open to multiplicities of meaning even as clear understandings are sought and obtained.

Mathematics, measurement, metaphor, metaphysics: Part I. Implications for method in postmodern science

by William Fisher

Fisher, W. P., Jr. (2003, December). Mathematics, measurement, metaphor, metaphysics: Part I. Implications for method in postmodern science. Theory & Psychology, 13(6), 753-90.

This paper relates philosophy's metaphysical insistence on rigorous figure-meaning independence, and its own distrust... more This paper relates philosophy's metaphysical insistence on rigorous figure-meaning independence, and its own distrust of that insistence, to the potential for improved quantitative and qualitative methods in the sciences. Following Wittgenstein's admonition that we pay attention to our nonsense, a kind of Socratic double vision is needed to simultaneously accept 1) that any meaningful discourse necessarily requires a significant degree of signifier-signified coordination, and 2) that an ideal degree of such coordination is never achieved in practice. A metaphysically-informed theory of scientific method begins from the mathematical and hermeneutic implications of figure-meaning coordination. This paper explores the mathematical metaphysics of science, critically evaluates the often repeated maxim that fields of study are only as scientific as they are mathematical, and suggests that some forms of quantification are more mathematically astute, metaphysically informed, pragmatic, and effective than others. In conclusion, the qualitative and quantitative aspects of three key features of measurement are briefly explored: 1) the deconstructive display and exploration of significant anomaly, 2) the metaphorically and numerically reductive identification of new variables, and 3) the constructive application of technologically embodied sign-thing coordinations in research and practice.

Reducible or irreducible? Mathematical reasoning and the ontological method

by William Fisher

Fisher, W. P., Jr. (2010). Reducible or irreducible? Mathematical reasoning and the ontological method. Journal of Applied Measurement, 11(1), 38-59.

Science is often described as nothing but the practice of measurement. This perspective follows from longstanding... more Science is often described as nothing but the practice of measurement. This perspective follows from longstanding respect for the roles mathematics and quantification have played as media through which alternative hypotheses are evaluated and experience becomes better managed. Many figures in the history of science and psychology have contributed to what has been called the "quantitative imperative," the demand that fields of study employ number and mathematics even when they do not constitute the language in which investigators think together. But what makes an area of study scientific is, of course, not the mere use of number, but communities of investigators who share common mathematical languages for exchanging qualitative and quantitative value. Such languages require rigorous theoretical underpinning, a basis in data sufficient to the task, and instruments traceable to reference standard quantitative metrics. The values shared and exchanged by such communities typically involve the application of mathematical models that specify the sufficient and invariant relationships necessary for rigorous theorizing and instrument equating. The mathematical metaphysics of science are explored with the aim of connecting principles of quantitative measurement with the structures of sufficient reason.

Survey design recommendations

by William Fisher

Fisher, W. P., Jr. (2006). Survey design recommendations. Rasch Measurement Transactions, 20(3), 1072-4.

Modern Paganism as a legitimating framework for post-materialist values

by Mika Lassander

Published in Pomegranate: The International Journal of Pagan Studies, Vol 11, No 1 (2009)

The emergence of new religious movements may be a result of an adaptation of world- views to the changing needs of... more The emergence of new religious movements may be a result of an adaptation of world- views to the changing needs of individuals in post-industrial societies. I explore the relation of the emergence of new religious movements and changes in social values. I compare value priorities of people who identify themselves as Pagans and those of a sample of Open University students, to represent the UK mainstream population. The Pagans were found to emphasise post-materialist values significantly more than the OU students. Indi- vidualsʼ values were also found to be related to their view of interpersonal relations. Peo- ple who have an egalitarian view of others endorse post-materialist values with emphasis on universalism, while people with a competitive view of interpersonal relations endorse post-materialist values with emphasis on achievement. Furthermore, while the majority of Pagans have similar value priorities, minority sub-groups were found with significantly dif- ferent priorities.

Mindfulness in measurement: Reconsidering the measurable in mindfulness

by William Fisher

Solloway, S., & Fisher, W. P., Jr. (2007). Mindfulness in measurement: Reconsidering the measurable in mindfulness. International Journal of Transpersonal Studies, 26, 58-81.

Can an organic partnership of qualitative and quantitative data confirm the value of mindfulness practice as an... more Can an organic partnership of qualitative and quantitative data confirm the value of mindfulness practice as an assignment in undergraduate education? Working from qualitative evidence suggesting the existence of potentially measurable mindfulness effects expressed in ruler measures, a previous study calibrated a mathematically invariant scale of mindfulness practice effects with substantively and statistically significant differences in the measures
before and after the assignment. Current efforts replicated these results. The quantitative model is described in measurement terms defined at an introductory level. Detailed figures and appendices are provided, and a program of future research is proposed.

Integrating qualitative and quantitative research approaches via the phenomenological method

by William Fisher

Fisher, W. P., Jr., & Stenner, A. J. (2011, April). Integrating qualitative and quantitative research approaches via the phenomenological method. International Journal of Multiple Research Approaches, 5(1): 89-103.

Separated and mixed applications of qualitative and quantitative methods are typically encumbered by markedly... more Separated and mixed applications of qualitative and quantitative methods are typically encumbered by markedly different philosophical orientations. Multiple inefficiencies arise when mixed methods work at cross purposes with each other. The phenomenological method, however, has the potential to integrate qualitative and quantitative concerns in ways that orient research toward uniform criteria of substantive meaningfulness and mathematical rigor. Three characteristics of a qualitative-quantitative methodological pluralism are described: structural invariance, substantive interpretability, and the display of anomaly. When combined with networked information technologies, new opportunities emerge for a qualitatively meaningful and quantitatively precise measurement framework in the research and practice of the health sciences.