Manfred Max Bergman

On Concepts and Paradigms in Mixed Methods Research

Concepts, also known as conceptions or constructs, play various important roles in empirical research and, by extension, could be the subject of more explicit inquiry in mono and mixed methods research. For empirical researchers, a concept can be understood as an abstract object, abstractum, or a mental representation. Well-being, depression, poverty, achievement, family, class, illness, democracy, power, gender, and ethnicity are examples of concepts. Concepts occupy an interesting position in that they refer either directly or indirectly to something inferred from a specific set of occurrences in conjunction with the mental formation of a notion associated with these. In 1936, Albert Einstein argued that

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly in Mixed Methods Research and Design:

Mixed methods research and design (MMRD) deservedly continues its ascent in the social and related sciences. Its popularity has generated a critical mass of theoretical and empirical contributions, which has infiltrated and influenced many important research fields, particularly in education, health, and evaluation. Despite its wide recognition, also from government agencies and various national and private funding bodies, and despite its successes in academic and other types of research, many theorists, methodologists, and empirical researchers remain apprehensive, considering this approach insufficiently rigorous. They are often right. This text will identify some of which I consider the most notable weaknesses based on my observations as editor, reviewer, supervisor, project director, and consultant of various mixed methods–related projects and programs. It is an idiosyncratic list, reflecting tastes, interpretations, and positions not necessarily shared by some of my esteemed colleagues. It is hoped that this text stimulates debates that improve the rigor and scope of MMRD. The first generation of mixed methods researchers, from the end of the 19th century, conducted their mixing, blending, combining, or meshing of different data collection and analysis methods informally and unencumbered by subsequent notions relating to the incompatibility thesis and the paradigm war, due in part to the absence of conventions, methodological sophistication, and orthodoxy (Tashakkori & Teddlie, 1998). Important works from the 1990s, notably by Julia Brannen, Alan Bryman, Vicki L. Plano Clark, John W. Creswell, Abbas Tashakkori, Charles Teddlie, and others, form the core of the second generation. They provided mixed methods researchers with a vocabulary, taxonomy, and process description, which paved the way for its current success. Part of the secret of MMRD’s success is based on the adoption of the division of labor between qualitative and quantitative methods as formulated by critical theory-, postmodernity-, and hermeneutics-inspired texts a decade earlier. Until today, an idiosyncratic and unsatisfactory interpretation of philosophical pragmatism was the pacifier in the paradigm war. A closer inspection reveals theoretical and conceptual shortcomings of this sleight of hand, which translate into either logical and procedural inconsistencies or diplomatic disregard of the rules and regulations outlined in the research methods literature (Bergman, 2008). The following are the inconsistencies, challenges, or unresolved problems, loosely grouped into two interrelated families: conceptualization/theorization and design.

The politics, fashions, and conventions of research methods

The results of an empirical study of any set of phenomena, whether investigating structures, processes, or combinations thereof, are influenced by the theoretical framework as well as the research methods employed. This text examines the influence of research methods on how phenomena under investigation are conceptualized, defined, measured, and interpreted. It will be argued that qualitative, quantitative, and, by extension, mixed methods research influence how phenomena are studies, and how these methods are concurrently subject to politics, fashions, and conventions. Inconsistent and impoverished research may be the consequence, particularly for mixed methods research.

The relationship between hospital patients' ratings of quality of care and communication

OBJECTIVEnTo assess the relationship between hospital patients quality of care ratings and their experiences with health-related information exchanges and communication during hospitalization.nnnDESIGNnCross-sectional multivariate dimensional analysis of data from a quality of care experience questionnaire of hospital patients comparing scores across three levels of reported satisfaction.nnnSETTING AND PARTICIPANTSnFive thousand nine hundred and fifty-two patients from a Swiss University Hospital responded to the questionnaire at discharge during 2010.nnnMAIN OUTCOME MEASURESnSurvey questions measuring patients evaluation of quality of care, patient loyalty and overall satisfaction.nnnRESULTSnDifferent levels of reported satisfaction are associated with differing experiences of health-related information and communication during a hospital stay.nnnCONCLUSIONSnPatients who report lower satisfaction appear to attribute to the hospital staff enduring negative dispositions from behaviours that may be due to specific situational contexts. Negative experiences appear to influence scores on most other communication and information domains. Patients who report higher satisfaction, in contrast, appear to differentiate negative experiences and positive experiences and they appear to relativize and compartmentalize negative experiences associated with their hospital stay.

The importance of specificity in occupation‐based social classifications

Purpose – This paper aims to present reasons why social classifications which use occupations should seek to adopt “specific” approaches which are tailored to the country, time period and gender of the subjects under study.Design/methodology/approach – The relative motivations for adopting a specific approach to social classifications are discussed and theoretical perspectives on specificity and empirical evidence on the contribution of specific approaches are reviewed. Also the practical costs of implementing specific social classifications are evaluated, and the authors development of the “GEODE” data service (grid‐enabled occupational data environment), which seeks to assist this process, is discussed.Findings – Specific approaches make a non‐trivial difference to the conclusions drawn from analyses of occupation‐based social classifications. It is argued that the GEODE service has reduced the practical challenges of implementing specific measures.Research limitations/implications – There remain conce...

The Meaning and Measurement of Well-Being as an Indicator of Success

This chapter discusses the conceptualization and measurement of well-being and success, and the relationships between the two. Many scholars in well-being research agree that well-being consists of three components (satisfaction, positive and negative affect). There are less well established definitions in the area of success. Frequently, success is conceptualized in terms of career success, distinguishing between objective and subjective indicators. These indicators most often include salary, status, and career satisfaction; they are sometimes criticized for being inappropriate in current labor markets and as to their individual meaning. In this chapter, we propose to widen the understanding of career success by incorporating the broader concept of work success in terms of success episodes, referring to task performance, pro-social success, appreciation and feedback as indicators of short-term and long-term successes.

What Is a Dysfunctional School

Abstract Whether or not a school is dysfunctional depends largely on how dysfunctionality in schools is defined and measured. Dysfunctionality, as any construct, is subject to definition and interpretation, and it is thus always marked by perspectivism. But regardless of the definition games occasionally played by academics, some form of reality takes place beyond the constructivist horizon. Moreover, perspectivism and definition games may justify and even create adverse consequences within a schools lived reality. A definition focussing on Grade 12 pass rates, for example, tends to implicate teachers, while a definition focussing on infrastructure tends to exculpate teachers and incriminate government and administration. Accordingly, this article will not end but begin with the adage that a dysfunctional school is what one defines a dysfunctional school to be, and it will explore the conditions and consequences of conceptual variations.