This Week: Submit Draft of an Abbreviated Mixed Methods Research Plan
To prepare for this Application, first focus on the following instructions:
- Review Chapter 10 in the course text, Research Design, the “Trustworthiness” and “Threats to Internal Validity” handouts, and the “Mixed Methods: Examples” media segment.
- Review the article “On Becoming a Pragmatic Researcher: The Importance of Combining Quantitative and Qualitative Research Methodologies.”
- Consult Table 10.1 (p. 205) in the course text, Research Design, to guide you in polishing your abbreviated mixed methods research plan.
Next, ask yourself the following questions:
- What are your research questions? To what extent can you test them? How would you justify the viability of your questions?
- What are your hypotheses? How would you test them?
- Why would this design be the most appropriate for answering the research questions? Conversely, why would quantitative or qualitative on their own not be appropriate?
- For a mixed methods design, which design is the primary one? Why is that appropriate?
- What approach would you select for this study (experimental, survey, ethnography, grounded theory, etc.)? Why is that approach the most appropriate one for answering the research questions?
- What theoretical framework or perspective would you use?
- What is your target population? How would you identify and recruit participants? What factors would contribute to determining appropriate sample size? You will not need to calculate sample size for this assignment.
- If appropriate for your plan, what instruments might you need?
- What data collection procedures might you use? Why would those be the most appropriate methods to use? How would that data help to answer your research question(s)/hypotheses?
- How would you ensure quality and reliability of data?
- What are threats to validity? How might you mitigate them?
- How might you analyze the data?
- What are the ethical considerations related to the plan?
The assignment:
- Craft a 2- to 3-page paper in which you do the following:
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- Provide an introduction.
- Provide a purpose statement.
- Provide viable research questions/hypotheses.
- Generate a written research plan that addresses the above questions.
