Abstract
SummaryAs a clinician, you will often combine patients’ narratives with test results in order to obtain a coherent picture and then decide on a way forward. As an educator, you are also likely to combine different information from your learners to arrive at the best feedback, judgement or supervision plan. This is what researchers do when undertaking mixed‐methods research: qualitative and quantitative data are typically brought together to provide different insights than could be achieved with a single type of data and analysis. Mixed‐methods research has much to offer the clinical teacher but may involve more complex study designs than other types of research. Therefore, this article aims to highlight the different designs of mixed‐methods research, and the opportunities and challenges that it provides, in order to support researchers who may be undertaking their first mixed‐methods research study.
Highlights
SUMMARYYou will often combine patients’ narratives with test results in order to obtain a coherent picture and decide on a way forward
To get started with a mixed-methods research study, we advocate working through the questions posed in Table 2, namely: What is the overarching aim of the proposed study?; Why are mixed methods needed to address it?; and How and when will the data be integrated? We believe that exploring these questions will help to ensure the high quality of future mixed-methods research
Summary
You will often combine patients’ narratives with test results in order to obtain a coherent picture and decide on a way forward. You are likely to combine different information from your learners to arrive at the best feedback, judgement or supervision plan This is what researchers do when undertaking mixed-m ethods research: qualitative and quantitative data are typically brought together to provide different insights than could be achieved with a single type of data and analysis. Before designing the study it is important to describe the phenomenon under study, and the aim or the research question to be used for the study, in order to explain why mixed-methods research is needed This enables the researcher to link the philosophical underpinning of the study to its research design.[5] The role of the qualitative data can be to supplement a predominantly quantitative design: for example, a qualitative process evaluation alongside a clinical trial. Mixed-methods research can provide a powerful tool for investigating complex processes and systems in health and social care that draw upon the strengths of both quantitative and qualitative approaches.[4,8] mixed-methods research enables the researcher to answer different kinds of research questions than the questions that could be answered by qualitative or quantitative methodologies alone
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