Mixed Methods Research

Exploring the Interactive Continuum

Carolyn S. Ridenour and Isadore Newman

 

Available March 2008

Paper, 0-8093-2779-1
978-0-8093-2779-9, $35.00s
192 pages, 6 x 9, 10 Illus.
Education

For Sale in The United States and Canada only

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 Presenting principles to improve research design and validity
In Mixed Methods Research: Exploring the Interactive Continuum, the second edition of Qualitative-Quantitative Research Methodology, authors Carolyn S. Ridenour and Isadore Newman reject the artificial dichotomy between qualitative and quantitative research strategies in the social and behavioral sciences and argue that by employing multiple methods, researchers can enhance the quality of their research outcomes.
            The authors base their original model for research—the “interactive continuum”—on the idea that qualitative and quantitative approaches are neither mutually exclusive nor interchangeable; rather, the actual relationship between the two paradigms is one of isolated events on a continuum of scientific inquiry. Ridenour and Newman integrate the quantitative research standards of internal and external validity and the qualitative research standards of trustworthiness to create a set of principles for mixed methods research.
For this new edition, the authors incorporate their most recent ideas into the qualitative-quantitative continuum and emphasize the “model of consistency” as key for research to meet the standard of “scientific.” Ridenour and Newman also review the historical and contemporary debates around research frameworks, define the nature of scientific validity, and propose ways to strengthen validity in research design.  They then apply their theoretical concept of mixed methods research to a systematic analysis of four published research studies, with special emphasis on the consistency among research purpose, question, and design.
             
Mixed Methods Research, which occupies a vital place at the junction of methodological theory and scientific practice, is ideal for graduate students interested in cutting-edge research methods and for faculty teaching graduate-level courses in education and other social sciences.

 

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Carolyn S. Ridenour is a professor of educational leadership at the University of Dayton.  She has published in numerous journals and has coauthored book chapters on the topics of mixed methods research, gender issues in schools, cultural diversity, the challenges of online education, and the impact of market-based policies on school reform in urban areas.

Isadore Newman, a licensed psychologist, is a professor emeritus at the University of Akron College of Education. The author of nine books and monographs and coauthor of many articles, Newman is the editor of Multiple Linear Regression Viewpoints, Midwestern Educational Researcher, and the Ohio Journal of Science.