ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses what to consider when deciding on the mixed methods design. It considers how the answers to the priority question and the sequence question combine to create an overall mixed methods design for the research project. Some research inquiries will demand a more intricate mixed methods design which incorporates more than one quantitative or more than one qualitative component, or more than one of both. In a simultaneous design the quantitative and qualitative components are carried out at roughly the same time. A sequential design involves two components, with one carried out after the other. ‘Multi-phase’ sequential design is where the research involves three or more components, with each component occurring successively rather than simultaneously, in a similar manner to the ‘single-phase’ sequential design described which involves just two components. The convergent parallel design involves the roughly simultaneous collection of quantitative and qualitative data.
