ABSTRACT

Mixed methods research (MMR) might seem like an unlikely inclusion in this book on qualitative methodologies, methods and processes, but it is included because not only does MMR combine methods and processes commonly used in quantitative and qualitative research approaches, it is also now claimed to be a research methodology. MMR has developed considerably from being simply the mixing of methods to gaining methodological status. Indeed, MMR has become so popular in the last three decades that some researchers regard it as the ‘third paradigm’ in research (Plano Clark and Wang, 2010; Ploeg et al., 2010; Tashakkori and Teddlie, 2010; Thogersen-Ntoumani, Fox, and Ntoumanis, 2005), following on third in line after the quantitative and qualitative paradigms. For some researchers, MMR is ‘the best of both worlds’, but even though it has become established, not all researchers accept it unconditionally, nor do they necessarily embrace MMR wholeheartedly as the third major research approach.