ARAŞTIRMA YÖNTEMLERİ

Greene, Caracelli, and Graham (1989) suggest that five major objectives or motivations exist for conducting MMR. e first one is ‘triangulation’, which provides validation and concurrence of results gained from various methods and designs investigating the same circumstance. ‘Complementarity’, as the second motivation, seeks for further detailing, improvement, interpretation and description of the results obtained from one method with results from the other method. e third one is ‘initiation’, which means unearthing the bias, and discrepancies that cause re-designing of the research question. ‘Development’, the fourth motivation, includes utilizing the findings from one method to deliver clues to other method. e last motivation, ‘expansion’, seeks to expand the size of research with different methods for different investigation factors. The correct answer is Choice B.

Some of the advantages using the MMR are listed below (Johnson and Onwuegbuzie, 2004, p. 21; Johnson and Christensen, 2004, p. 646):

• Researchers can use numbers to add precision to words, pictures and narrative.

• It serves the opportunity to bene t from the strengths of both quantitative and qualitative research.

• A grounded theory can be created and tested by researcher by means of it.

• By conducting MMR, it is possible to answer a broader and more complete range of research questions as only a single method or approach does not limit the researcher.

• Regarding the speci c strengths of mixed methods research in a two-stage sequential design, the researcher can use the Stage 1 results to improve and brief the aim and design of the Stage 2 component.

• Using the strengths of an additional method to overcome the weaknesses in another method by using both in a research study is also possible.

• Stronger evidence for a conclusion through convergence and corroboration of ndings can be available through MMR. Moreover, it may bring understanding and comprehension that might be missed when only a single method is applied.

• A researcher can also use MMR to increase the generalizability of the results.

• It can be concluded that qualitative and quantitative research blended together create more entire knowledge necessary to notify theory and practice.

On the other hand, conducting mixed methods research has some weaknesses, some of which result from researchers; some of which result from methodology itself. According to Johnson and Christensen, (2004, p. 647) the weaknesses of the MMR are as follows:

A single researcher may have di culty in carrying out both qualitative and quantitative research, especially if two or more approaches are expected to be done concurrently (i.e., the study might require a research team).

e researcher has to learn about multiple methods and approaches and understand how to combine them appropriately.

Methodological purists contend that one should always work within either a qualitative or quantitative paradigm.

It is more expensive.

It is more time-consuming.

Some of the details of mixed research

remain to be worked out fully by research methodologists (e.g., problems of paradigm mixing, techniques for qualitatively analyzing quantitative data, how to integrate data and inferences, and how to interpret con icting results).

As it can be seen, mixed method is expected to be more expensive than the other research methods. The correct answer is Choice E.

Badice (2010) have pointed out different types of research questions in MMR. Researchers can use separate questions, written in quantitative and qualitative strands of the study; general overarching mixed methods questions, addressed with both quantitative and qualitative approaches; hybrid mixed methods, in which one question is written with two distinct parts (one part addresses to quantitative and another part addresses to qualitative part); mixed methods procedural/mixing questions, directing the integration of the qualitative and quantitative strands of the study; and combination, in which questions are written separately both in qualitative and quantitative strands. From these types of questions, it is possible to say that combination type is the clearest and the most widely used one. The correct answer is Choice C.

Instrument fidelity pertains to evaluating the convenience and/or effectuality of current instruments, by generating new instruments and observing performance of human instruments. Treatment integrity presents evaluating the level of compliance of intervention. Complementarity seeks elaboration, enhancement, illustration, and clarification of the results from one method with results from the other method. Significance enhancement refers to interpretation and utility of findings. Initiation refers to discovering paradoxes and contradictions as well as providing different perspectives that may lead to a reframing of the research question or results. The correct answer is Choice D.

Expansion seeks to expand the breadth and range of inquiry by using different methods for different inquiry components. Complementarity seeks elaboration, enhancement, illustration, and clarification of the results from one method with results from the other method. Participant enrichment means making sampling better by blending quantitative and qualitative research approaches in order to select eligible participants for the study. Triangulation seeks convergence, correspondence, and corroboration of results from different methods studying the same phenomenon. Development seeks to use the results from one method to help inform the other method. The correct answer is Choice C.

In identical sampling exactly the same participants are involved in both the and qualitative phases of the study. In parallel sampling, sample for the quantitative and qualitative components of the study are different but are drawn from the same population of interest. In nested sampling sample members selected for one phase of the study represent a subset of those sample members selected for the previous phase of the research. In multilevel sampling use of two or more sets of samples that are extracted from different levels of the population of interest. The correct answer is Choice D.

Convergent design: 

Explanatory design:

Exploratory design:

Embedded design:

Transformative design:

The correct answer is Choice D.

Commensurability: The extent to which the meta-inferences made reflect a mixed worldview based on the cognitive process of Gestalt switching and integration.

Paradigmatic mixing: The extent to which the researcher’s epistemological, ontological, axiological, methodological, and rhetorical beliefs that underlie the quantitative and qualitative approaches are successfully (a) combined or (b) blended into a usable package.

Multiple Validities: The extent to which addressing legitimation of the quantitative and qualitative components of the study result from the use of quantitative, qualitative, and mixed validity types, yielding high quality meta- inferences.

Inside-Outside: The extent to which the researcher accurately presents and appropriately utilizes the insider’s view and the observer’s views for purposes such as description and explanation.

Conversion: The extent to which the quantitizing or qualitizing yields quality meta-inferences.

The correct answer is Choice A.

It is necessary to represent the importance of all findings in the MMR article (Onwuegbuzie and Leech, 2004). Regarding the significance of that, an interpretive framework which includes ten aspects of quality is drafted by Teddlie and Tashakkori (2009, pp. 301-302):

Appropriateness of design (i.e. ‘Are the methods of study appropriate for answering the research questions?’; ‘Does the design match the research questions?’; ‘Does the mixed methods design match the stated purpose for conducting an integrated study?’; ‘Do the strands of the mixed methods study address the same research questions [or closely related aspects of the research question]?’).

Reliability of design (i.e. ‘Are the qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods procedures or design components... capturing the meanings, effects, or relationships?’).

Coherence inside the design (i.e. ‘Do the components of the design t together in a seamless manner?’; ‘Do the strands of the mixed methods study follow each other [or are they linked] in a logical and seamless manner?’).

Analytical competence (i.e., ‘Are the data analysis procedures/strategies appropriate and adequate to provide possible answers to research questions?’; ‘Are the mixed methods strategies implemented effectively?’).

Analytical cohesion (i.e., ‘Do the inferences closely follow the relevant findings in terms of type, scope, and intensity?’; ‘Are multiple inferences made on the basis of the same ndings consistent with each other?’).

Conceptual coherence (i.e., ‘Are the inferences consistent with theory and state of knowledge in the eld?’);

Explicative concurrence (i.e., ‘Are other scholars likely to reach the same conclusions on the basis of the same results?’; ‘Do the inferences match participants’ constructions?’).

Analytical uniqueness (i.e., ‘Is each inference distinctively more credible/plausible than other possible conclusions that might be made on the basis of the same results?’).

Combining efficiency (i.e., ‘Do the meta-inferences adequately incorporate the inferences that are made in each strand of the study?’; ‘If there are credible inconsistencies between inferences made within/across strands, are the theoretical explanations for these inconsistencies explored, and possible explanations offered?’).

Exploratory agreement (i.e., ‘Do the inferences correspond to the stated purpose/questions of the study?’; ‘Do the inferences made in each strand address the purposes of the study in that strand?’; ‘Do the meta-inferences meet the stated need for using a mixed methods design?’) (Leech et al., 2011)

The correct answer is Choice E.

While writing the MMR report, the researchers can come across possible four problems. These problems can be explained as follows:

The correct answer is Choice E.

The answer is D.

The answer is A.

Some of the difficulties of conducting the mixed methods research are as follows:

Since MMR needs a vast amount of resources, time and expertise compared to a single method, it is not easy to implement and can be difficult for an individual novice researcher. The correct answer is E.

Five major objectives or motivations exist for conducting MMR. The first one is ‘triangulation’, which provides validation and concurrence of results gained from various methods and designs investigating the same circumstance. ‘Complementarity’, as the second motivation, seeks for further detailing, improvement, interpretation and description of the results obtained from one method with results from the other method. The third one is ‘initiation’, which means unearthing the bias, and discrepancies that cause re-designing of the research question. ‘Development’, the fourth motivation, includes utilizing the findings from one method to deliver clues to other method. The last motivation, ‘expansion’, seeks to expand the size of research with different methods for different investigation factors. The correct answer is B.

One of the weaknesses of MMR is that methodological purists contend that one should always work within either a qualitative or quantitative paradigm. This can lead to the rejection of the studies by editors or referees who adopt only one research paradigm. The correct answer is C.

Some common research objectives identified in various mixed researches can be stated as ‘exploration, description, explanation, prediction, influence. The first type of research objective, exploration, comprises inductive methods to figure out an opinion, argument and the like. In this way, it brings about intuition, hypotheses, deductions or generalization. Description, the second type, means clarifying and defining the previous experiences, relations, and the nature of the incident. One should develop or broaden a theory to achieve ‘explanation’ to find out the phenomena. Another type of research, prediction, enables the researcher to predict future events by means of previous knowledge. The fifth type of objective, influence, includes ‘the manipulation of a variable or construct’ so as to achieve an outcome. The correct answer is A.

In nested sampling, sample members selected for one phase of the study represent a subset of those sample members selected for the previous phase of the research. The correct answer is B.

Since the closed-ended Likert-type questionnaire (Quantitative strand) is the ultimate aim, and the initial interviews and open-ended surveys (two Qualitative strands) serve as means to construct questionnaire items, the QUANTITATIVE study has dominant status. The correct answer is C.

Exploratory designs involve:

Choice E, i.e. “conducting qualitative and quantitative research concurrently” along with “analysing the qualitative and quantitative data separately” is a feature of Convergent design. The correct answer is E.

Four major types of interview, informal conversation interview, interview guide approach, structured open-ended interview, closed fixed response interview can be outlined. The closed or fixed response interview resembles to a closed-ended questionnaire in which the participant only replies to the researcher’s questions in a fixed form and order. Indeed, the participant is not free to articulate herself/himself. Such a way of interviewing is rote and bothers the participant. Nevertheless, the interview guide approach stands in the middle of the process. The correct answer is D.