John H. Hitchcock

Mixed Methods in Intervention Research: Theory to Adaptation

The purpose of this article is to demonstrate the application of mixed methods research designs to multiyear programmatic research and development projects whose goals include integration of cultural specificity when generating or translating evidence-based practices. The authors propose a set of five mixed methods designs related to different phases of program development research: (a) formative research, Qual →/+ Quan; (b) theory development or modification and testing, Qual → Quan →/+ Qual → Quan ... Qual → Quan; (c) instrument development and validation, Qual → Quan; (d) program development and evaluation, Qual →/+ Quan →/+ Qual →/+ Quan ... Qual →/+ Quan, or Qual →← Quan; and (e) evaluation research, Qual + Quan. We illustrate the application of these designs to creating and validating ethnographically informed psychological assessment measures and developing and evaluating culturally specific intervention programs within a multiyear research program conducted in the country of Sri Lanka.

Assessing Adolescents' Understanding of and Reactions to Stress in Different Cultures Results of a Mixed-Methods Approach

This article expands on an emerging mixed-method approach for validating culturally-specific constructs (see Hitchcock et al., 2005). Previous work established an approach for dealing with cultural impacts when assessing psychological constructs and the current article extends these efforts into studying stress reactions among adolescents in Sri Lanka. Ethnographic data collection and analysis techniques were used to construct scenarios that are stressful to Sri Lankan youth, along with survey items that assess their related coping mechanisms. The data were factor analysed, results were triangulated with qualitative findings, and reliability estimates of resulting scales were obtained. This in turn generated a pilot assessment approach that can be used to measure stress and coping reactions in a distinct culture. Use of the procedures described here could be replicated to generate culturally-specific instruments in international contexts, or when working with ethnic minorities within a given nation. This should in turn generate information needed to develop culturally relevant intervention work.

Using Mixed Methods to Inform Education Policy Research

By moving from broad definitions of policy, policy inquiry, and mixed methods to the paradigmatic and analytical choices involved in conducting mixed methods research, this chapter provides guidance to education policy scholars interested in mixed methods. Recent peer-reviewed mixed methods studies on complex education policy problems illustrate how researchers have used mixed methods to interrogate these issues while attending to various perspectives and contexts. Ultimately, by outlining how to conceptualize a mixed methods inquiry for a hypothetical policy problem, we present an example of the decision-making processes essential to effective mixed methods research design. The guidance serves as a useful starting point for novices considering whether and how mixed methods research can inform their work to alleviate the complicated policy problems facing today’s education leaders.

Editors’ Introduction to the Mixed Methods Manifesto Inaugural Special Issue

aDepartment of Educational Leadership, Sam Houston State University, TX, USA and Department of Educational Leadership and Management/Department of Educational Psychology, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa; bDepartment of Instructional Systems Technology, Center for Evaluation and Education Policy, Indiana University Bloomington, IN, USA; cDepartment of Counseling and Instructional Sciences, College of Education and Professional Studies, University of South Alabama, Mobile, AL, USA; dDepartment of Educational Leadership and Management, College of Education, University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa; eDepartment of Psychology of Education, University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa; fDepartment of Computer Science, Sam Houston State University, TX, USA