In This Issue: Integrative Strategies, Philosophical Assumptions, Hierarchical Linear Modeling, Transformative Research for Social Justice, and Longitudinal Studies in Mixed Methods Research

Abstract

This April 2021 issue of the Journal of Mixed Methods Research (JMMR) includes an editorial for a new virtual special issue, six articles and one media review. In the editorial, Fabregues, Molina-Azorin and Fetters (2021) introduce the third virtual special issue of JMMR. A virtual special issue is an online-only collection of previously published JMMR articles about an important topic in the field of mixed methods research. The first two virtual special issues focused on paradigms (Molina-Azorin & Fetters, 2020) and integration (Guetterman, Molina-Azorin and Fetters, 2020). In this third virtual special issue, five editorials and eight articles have been selected regarding another important topic: quality in mixed methods research. All three virtual special issues can be seen in the JMMR webpage under the ‘‘Collections’’ section. (https://journals.sagepub.com/home/mmr). In the first article of this issue, Akerblad et al. (2021) with affiliations in social sciences and philosophy, have introduced the concept of integrative strategy. This constitutes the efforts that researchers make to carry out a mixed methods research process where they are aware of and explicate the choices concerning the relationship between foundations (methodological-philosophical justifications) and praxis (practical processes of the research, the ‘‘doings’’ during the research process in a study). The authors’ methodological purpose was to appraise the concept of integrative strategy and to identify how different types of integrative strategies can inform discussions and practices regarding integration in mixed methods research. Moreover, the authors examined specific perspectives on integration and analyzed three mixed methods studies as cases in order to examine and compare research practices concerning integration, and identify integrative strategies in each case.