ABSTRACT
Mixed method design is systematic. At best, researchers conduct two components, keeping each data set separate until the point of interface, or the position in the research process in which the two components meet. These two data sets do not mingle nor blend—each is handled appropriately according to its modus operandi until the researcher intentionally brings the two operations together, at a time when both of the two methods are “ready” to be combined. In mixed method design, the point of interface can occur only in two positions:
in the analysis of the core component. The core and the supplemental components meet at the analytic point of interface only in QUAN-qual design, when the results of the supplemental qual component are transformed numerically to fit in with the method used by the QUAN core component. Supplementary qualitative data are collected by intentionally including semistructured, open-ended questions within or at the end of a structured questionnaire or by using semistructured interviews. In this case, we may transform the supplemental components semistructured interview textual data to numerical data through processes of coding, and then move the transformed data into the QUAN core project as additional variables within quantitative analysis (see Chapter 9), or
in the results narrative of the core component. By results narrative, we mean the write-up of the core component findings. The narrative of the core component ALWAYS forms the base of the results, with the supplemental component embellishing or adding to certain information to special areas of the results (see Figure 5.1).
Principle #8: Mixed method design is systematic.
Principle #9: The two data sets remain separate until the point of interface.
The point of interface is the position in the research process in which the two method meet.
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