ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a descriptive overview of commonly used research methodologies and data collection methods to examine student mobility. This overview is followed by a prescriptive summary of mixed methods and how the combination of quantitative and qualitative approaches provides a better understanding of student mobility than either approach alone. The chapter builds on these overviews by contextualising mixed methods and its essential characteristics. One of these characteristics involves deploying multiple methodological perspectives to construct a systematic and comprehensive understanding of complex phenomena. The concurrent combination of analytical procedures implied a higher level of statistical sophistication than the sequential analysis, since ’latent effect sizes’ were associated to qualitative themes. Methodological integration is not confined to a specific design, but a typology approach to design offers a range of tangible options that can enable a sound approach to mixed methods and integration practices, especially for those new to mixed methods research.
