Evaluating the Quality of Mixed Methods Research Reports - From Mixed-Methods Research to a Journal Article - Conference Proposals and Article Types

Writing for Publication: Transitions and Tools that Support Scholars’ Success - Mary Renck Jalongo, Olivia N. Saracho 2016

Evaluating the Quality of Mixed Methods Research Reports
From Mixed-Methods Research to a Journal Article
Conference Proposals and Article Types

Researchers have described the importance of mixed methods research and have increased their publication of mixed methods research studies. Creswell, Fetters, and Ivankova (2004) identified issues that researchers can consider when designing a mixed methods research study while general criteria have been established for planning, designing, reporting and assessing mixed methods research studies (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2011; O’Cathain et al., 2008). Several researchers and organizations have published guidelines on how to review quantitative and qualitative studies, but specific guidelines are needed with mixed methods research (O’Cathain et al., 2008). It is critical that researchers have a refined set of criteria to evaluate the quality of their reporting in mixed methods research studies. O’Cathain and colleagues, (2008) recommend several guidelines to use in reporting a high quality mixed methods study. Table 9.7 provides guidelines to assess designs and inferences made in reports of mixed methods research studies, while Activity 9.8 provides guidelines on evaluating a mixed methods research report.

Table 9.7

Checklist to assess a mixed methods research manuscript

1. Is the use of mixed methods research justified?

2. Is the design for mixing methods described?

3. Is the design clearly communicated?

4. Is the design appropriate for addressing the research questions?

5. Has rigor of the design been considered (proposal) or adhered to (report)?

Assessment of the inferences made in reports of mixed methods studies

1. Is there clarity about which results have emerged from which methods?

2. Are inferences appropriate?

3. Are the results of all the methods considered sufficiently in the interpretation? (O’Cathain et al., 2008, p. 95)

Activity 9.8: Critiquing a Mixed Methods Manuscript

Use the following questions to review a mixed methods study that is published or as a tool for self-assessment of a study you are drafting. Did the researcher describe: (1) the justification for using a mixed methods approach to the research question? (2) the design in terms of the purpose, priority and sequence of methods? (3) both the quantitative and the qualitative methods in terms of sampling, data collection and analysis? (4) where integration has occurred, how has it occurred and who has participated in it? (5) any limitation of one method associated with the presence of the other method? and (6) any insights gained from mixing or integrating methods? (O’Cathain et al., 2008, p. 97).