CHAPTER 17
MIXED-METHODS RESEARCH
TEACHING ACTIVITIES FOR CHAPTER 17
Activity 1. Designing a mixed-methods study with a sequential-explanatory design.
You can help your students develop an understanding of mixed–methods research by using one of the reprinted
research reports in this book that they have studied in some depth. The report can be an article reprint in one of the
chapters about quantitative research designs (Chapters 9-12) or about qualitative research designs (Chapters 13–15).
Note that we did not include Chapter 16, which is about historical research because this type of research is not used
in mixed-methods research, to our knowledge.
Activity 2. Designing a mixed-methods study with a concurrent-triangulation design.
This activity is similar to the activity stated above. You can begin with an article reprint about either a
quantitative research study or about a qualitative research study.
Suppose that you select one of the article reprints about a qualitative research study. You can form students into
small groups and ask them to expand on this study by creating a quantitative study whose purpose is to corroborate
key findings of the qualitative study. Point out to students that the addition of their quantitative study to the original
Activity 3. Analysis and evaluation of the article reprint.
You can ask students to read the reprinted article about the Title I Program at the end of Chapter 17 and
MULTIPLE-CHOICE TEST ITEMS FOR CHAPTER 17
1. Mixed-methods research involves a______________ on the same topic.
a. combination of two or more quantitative studies
b. combination of two or more qualitative studies
c. combination of at least one quantitative study and one qualitative study
d. qualitative study followed by a quantitative study
2. In a mixed-methods research study,
a. both the quantitative and qualitative components must focus on cases.
b. both the quantitative and qualitative components must use grounded theory for data analysis.
c. the qualitative component takes precedence over the quantitative component.
d. the quantitative and qualitative components address the same or related research questions.
3. In mixed-methods research, a sequential-explanatory design
a. involves a quantitative study followed by a qualitative study to explain the quantitative study’s
findings.
b. involves a qualitative study followed by a quantitative study to explain the qualitative study’s
findings.
c. is used to test hypotheses derived from a theory.
d. is used to explain discrepant findings from a series of replication studies.
4. In mixed-methods research, a sequential-transformative design involves
a. a quantitative study followed by a qualitative study to explain the quantitative study’s
findings.
b. a qualitative study followed by a quantitative study to explain the qualitative study’s
findings.
c. the use of a common theoretical perspective to guide the quantitative and qualitative studies.
d. an interpretive analysis of a study’s qualitative data, which subsequently are
coded so that the data can be analyzed by frequency counts and other statistics.
5. In mixed-methods research, a concurrent-triangulation design involves
a. the collection of quantitative and qualitative data during the same period of time to determine
whether they provide different types of evidence for theoretical hypotheses.
b. the collection of quantitative and qualitative data during the same period of time to determine
whether the two types of data corroborate each other.
c. the use of the same statistical approach to analyze quantitative and qualitative data collected during
the same period of time.
d. the collection of quantitative and qualitative data during different periods of time, and having two or more
raters score the data at the same point in time to check for inter-rater reliability.
6. In mixed-methods research,
a. the quantitative component ideally should involve the use of a sample randomly drawn from a
defined population.
b. the sampling procedure should be the same for the quantitative and qualitative components.
c. the quantitative component ideally should involve the use of purposeful sampling.
d. the use of volunteers for the qualitative component is recommended.
7. A researcher who is designing a mixed-methods study
a. should always schedule the quantitative component to occur before the qualitative component.
b. should use the same measures in both the quantitative and qualitative components.
c. must place equal emphasis on the quantitative and qualitative components.
d. can place more emphasis on the quantitative or the qualitative component.
SHORT-ANSWER TEST ITEMS FOR CHAPTER 17
1. State two ways in which a mixed-methods study with a sequential-explanatory design differs from a mixed–
methods study with a concurrent-triangulation design.
2. State the main way in which a mixed-methods study with a sequential-transformative design differs
from a mixed-methods study with either a sequential-explanatory design or a concurrent-triangulation
design.
3. Explain what the term “triangulation” means in a concurrent-triangulation design.
CHAPTER 17
MIXED-METHODS RESEARCH
Multiple-Choice Test Items
Short-Answer Test Items