Mixed Methods Paradigm Research Articles

Making new friends: Social concepts of study abroad

For the past few years, Asian universities have been trying to position themselves as a venue for study abroad opportunities. This is also quite true in Taiwan, wherein universities are exerting much effort in the recruitment of international students. Within the paradigm of internationalization, having international students in Taiwan is a way to promote communication, understanding, and friendship between other countries around the world. Moreover, it is hypothesized that successful internationalization is built upon the friendships that are form between student exchanges. In addition, with the current increased emphasis in student exchanges with mainland China, it would be quite important to determine the various concepts on friendship within these students. Therefore, the current study seeks to analyze the different insights between the Chinese and local Taiwan students’ concepts on friendship. Using a mixed-method paradigm, 6 groups of volunteer students enrolled in a technical and vocational university in Taiwan participated in a series of focus group discussions. Afterwards, a survey was designed from the focus group interview results. The survey was then administered to 200 volunteer mainland Chinese and local Taiwan students. Statistical results show that there are both similarities and differences within the concepts on friendship. Local students are eager to make friends with their international peers, while majority of them thought primarily of the opportunity to understand a new culture. In addition, survey results also show that the highest factor is the social results; wherein the students’ goal is to expand their world view and gain interpersonal relationship.

Challenges of Implementing Infrastructure Megaprojects through Public-Private Partnerships in Nigeria: A Case Study of Road Infrastructure

Nigeria’s infrastructure deficit, especially in transport sector is appalling. This triggered the Lagos state government to start addressing its infrastructure deficit through PPPs. The purpose of this paper is to identify the challenges at both development phase and implementation (construction) phase of PPP road infrastructure megaproject, and identify the critical success factors that actually made the project successful. The paper adopted case study approach within a mixed method paradigm employed to collect data. Semi structured interviews were used to collect data from the participants involved in the case study with a view to identifying the challenges and success factors. The identified challenges and success factors were incorporated into the questionnaire survey administered to the participants involved in the development and implementation stages of the case study. Data collected were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The results of the Relative Significant Index ranking indicate that perceptions of Nigeria as a high risk economy by foreign investors, bureaucratic nature of the state government, schedule delay by administrative procedures, threat of expropriation and reluctance to tender/bid, and public/political opposition are the most highly ranked challenges experienced at development phase. The paper further identified unexpected increased quantity, bottleneck in securing execution of the federal government support agreement, resistance by residents, and problem of access to the right-of-way as the most ranked challenges witnessed at implementation (construction) phase. The results of factor analysis grouped the identified twenty two challenges into seven major factors at development phase, and grouped twelve identified challenges into four principal factors at implementation phase. The paper further identified four critical success factors using factor analysis that made the PPP project successful. These include enabling legislation with due diligence, strong commitment of both public and private sectors, strong financial package, and enabling environment and allocation of risk.

Stroke self-management: A focus group study to identify the factors influencing self-management following stroke

BackgroundSelf-management refers to the strategies, decisions and activities individuals take to manage a long-term health condition. Self-management has potential importance for reducing both the personal and health service impact of illness. Stroke represents a significant health and social burden, however there is a lack of clarity about the factors that support successful self-management following stroke. ObjectiveThis study sought to investigate the factors which facilitate or hinder stroke self-management from the patients’ perspective. DesignNested qualitative exploratory phase within a mixed-methods paradigm. Data were analysed thematically using Analytic Induction to guide development of themes. SettingParticipants had experienced a stroke and were recruited from rural and urban community stroke support groups based in the South of England. MethodFive focus groups (n=28) using a semi-structured interview guide were conducted. Interviews were digitally recorded and transcribed. FindingsThe term ‘self-management’ was unfamiliar to participants. On further exploration, participants described how self-management activities were helped or hindered. Self-management was viewed as an important, unavoidable feature of life after stroke. Three key themes identified from the data affect stroke self-management: Individual capacity; support for self-management and self-management environment. People following stroke reported feeling ill-prepared to self-manage. The self-management support needs of patients following stroke are currently often unmet. ConclusionSuccessful stroke self-management consists of features which may be modifiable at the individual level, in addition to the presence of external support and an environment which supports and facilitates people following stroke to self-manage. These findings extend current conceptualisations of stroke self-management.

Twelve tips for getting started using mixed methods in medical education research

Background: Mixed methods research, which is gaining popularity in medical education, provides a new and comprehensive approach for addressing teaching, learning, and evaluation issues in the field.Aim: The aim of this article is to provide medical education researchers with 12 tips, based on consideration of current literature in the health professions and in educational research, for conducting and disseminating mixed methods research.Conclusion: Engaging in mixed methods research requires consideration of several major components: the mixed methods paradigm, types of problems, mixed method designs, collaboration, and developing or extending theory. Mixed methods is an ideal tool for addressing a full range of problems in medical education to include development of theory and improving practice.

A study on the EFL students’ speech related anxiety in Taiwan

Global challenges in terms of producing more globally competitive graduates have given grounds to the need of students to enhance their English proficiencies. Although most Taiwanese students have studied English starting from their elementary education up to their senior high school years, however, research have shown that there is still a need to improve on the students’ English speech proficiency. This presentation details an empirical study which aims to investigate how Public Speaking Anxiety (PSA) affects English as Foreign Language (EFL) students who took a yearlong public speaking course in Taiwan. More specifically, the study seeks to answer these four major concerns: 1.) what are the underlying factors behind the students PSA; 2.) to what extent can gender differences affects PSA and time of preparation for a speech (TPS); 3.) to what extent can gender differences and the different type of audiences affect the reported levels of PSA; and 4.) what are the advantages/disadvantages brought about by the yearlong public speaking course. This case study adopts a mixed-method paradigm, wherein methodology from both quantitative and qualitative is systematically combined. Participants were 82 third-year technical-vocational college students. The Personal Report of Public Speaking Anxiety (PRPSA) quantitative survey was used to determine the level of students’ anxiety, while the qualitative focus group interview was accomplished to further understand the effects of PSA and gender differences with respects to TPS and types of audiences. Results show that the yearlong public speaking course had indeed helped diminish some if not all of the students’ PSA. Furthermore, relationship between PSA and gender differences of the audience was significant. Lastly, female students have longer TPS and higher reported PSA than male students, however, is caused mainly due to their being grade conscious and fear of performing badly in front of their classmates.

Languages of Science and the Problem of Applied Clinical Knowledge: A Mixed Methods Appraisal of Eells' Case Formulation Research

This article is a methodological commentary on Eells’ (2010) summary of his research on case formulation. It draws attention to an epistemological tension between a positivist and a qualitative/hermeneutic paradigm. I argue that the kinds of questions researchers are most concerned with in the field of case formulation are ones with direct relevance for practice and that an exclusively positivist paradigm is problematically suited to answer these, an observation that emerges from a consideration of Eells account of his research. While Eells’ account of his case-based strategy is initially positivist in intent, the introduction of a hermeneutic approach opens the field up considerably. I conclude (a) that a "mixed methods" paradigm, which integratively and rigorously combines quantitative and qualitative methods and which has recently been called a "third research paradigm," offers a particularly attractive epistemological framework for planning research on case formulation that can directly guide and improve practice; and, following from this point, (b) that the meaning and direction of Eells' research can be enhanced by explicitly conceptualizing it within such a mixed methods paradigm.

Case studies within a mixed methods paradigm: Toward a resolution of the alienation between researcher and practitioner in psychotherapy research.

This article addresses the long-standing divide between researchers and practitioners in the field of psychotherapy, regarding what really works in treatment and the extent to which interventions should be governed by outcomes generated in a "laboratory atmosphere." This alienation has its roots in a positivist paradigm, which is epistemologically incomplete because it fails to provide for context-based practical knowledge. In other fields of evaluation research, it has been superseded by a mixed methods paradigm, which embraces pragmatism and multiplicity. On the basis of this paradigm, we propose and illustrate new scientific standards for research on the evaluation of psychotherapeutic treatments. These include the requirement that projects should comprise several parallel studies that involve randomized controlled trials, qualitative examinations of the implementation of treatment programs, and systematic case studies. The uniqueness of this article is that it contributes a guideline for involving a set of complementary publications, including a review that offers an overall synthesis of the findings from different methodological approaches.

Leveraging multi-generational workforce values in interactive information societies

Background: The success of organisations relies on various factors including the ability of its multi-generational workforce to collaborate within the interactive information society. By developing an awareness of the different values of a diverse workforce, organisations may benefit from diversity. Various diversity factors, such as ethnicity, age and gender, impact on the way people interact, especially in the interactive information society.Objectives: This article advocates the need for generational awareness and addresses how this awareness presents benefits to companies, such as, increased productivity, improved succession planning policies and strategies to recruit and retain a diverse workforce. The research problem is directed at how diversity management influences Traditionalists, Baby Boomers, Generation X and Generation Y in terms of their work performance and co-worker relationships.Method: The research design combines Critical Theory and Generational Theory within the mixed-method paradigm. The sequential exploratory design was decided upon as it studies the unknown relationships between different generations of employees. The literature review was followed by a quantitative empirical research component and data was collected by means of a questionnaire. Results: The findings highlight specific differences between generations regarding their perspectives on work values and co-worker relationships, rewards, work-life balance and retirement.Conclusion: The article concludes with recommendations on the role diversity management plays in terms of work performance and co-worker relationships. By leveraging generational awareness in the interactive information society organizations with a multi-generational workforce will succeed in the competitive business environment.

A typology of mixed methods research designs

The mixed methods paradigm is still in its adolescence, and, thus, is still relatively unknown and confusing to many researchers. In general, mixed methods research represents research that involves collecting, analyzing, and interpreting quantitative and qualitative data in a single study or in a series of studies that investigate the same underlying phenomenon. Over the last several years, a plethora of research designs have been developed. However, the number of designs that currently prevail leaves the doctoral student, the beginning researcher, and even the experienced researcher who is new to the field of mixed methods research with the challenge of selecting optimal mixed methods designs. This paper presents a three-dimensional typology of mixed methods designs that represents an attempt to rise to the challenge of creating an integrated typology of mixed methods designs. An example for each design is included as well as a notation system that fits our eight-design framework.