ABSTRACT
Mixing methods refers to the combining of quantitative and qualitative research in one study. Quantitative research typically focuses on cross-case analysis of large data sets, aiming to produce, via correlation-based techniques, generalizable knowledge concerning the relative importance of independent variables in explaining some dependent variable. Qualitative work often includes a within-case focus, undertaking interpretative, processual and narrative analysis. Qualitative researchers tend to view the holistic case, rather than supposedly independent variables, as the active agent in the social world.
