ABSTRACT
This chapter sets out key foundations and components of mixed methods research (MMR), what it is, what are its views of ontology and epistemology, what is being mixed and the claims made for and against MMR. It sets MMF in the pragmatist paradigm, and indicates what this implies and the challenges that it brings. The chapter examines different ways of working with MMR, including research designs, sampling, reliability and validity, research questions, methodologies, instrumentation, data collection and analysis, and writing up MMR research. The chapter raises challenges for MMR but also provides practical advice for working with MMR. It shows that, far from being a unitary approach to educational research, MMR is an umbrella term whose cognates include a diversity of ways of working, and it provides examples of this and how to proceed.
