Diaries and questionnaires: mixed-methods research on maternal discipline techniques

Abstract

According to Johnson and Onwuegbuzie (2004), mixed-methods research is a research paradigm whose time has come. It is defined as the mixing or combining of elements of both the quantitative and qualitative approaches. Its goal is to draw upon the strengths and minimize the weaknesses of both. In this article we illustrate mixed-methods research by using an example from educational psychology. Based on Hoffman's classification of parental discipline techniques, three research questions were studied: 1) How do mothers expect themselves to react to their children's transgressions? 2) How do mothers really react to their children's transgression? 3) Do mothers react according to their expectations? Mothers' expectations were assessed through questionnaires, a quantitative technique; mothers' reactions through the collection of diaries, a qualitative method. The study revealed that mothers act differently from what they tell and that it is impossible to generalize from one mother to the other. From a methodological perspective, the study demonstrates the superiority of mixed-methods research if the goal of the research is both idiographic and nomothetic.