The implications of a mixed methods way of thinking to practice

The foremost challenge in mixed methods research is not simply to align data or findings from different analytical procedures but to find an approach that makes it possible to integrate them in an informed way. The article engages more than 40 years of collective conversations with colleagues and students to describe and illustrate a mixed methods way of thinking and the dialectical logic associated with it as one approach to mixed methods research. The article synthesizes more than 20 years of methodological literature to pinpoint five ways that a mixed methods way of thinking has been conceptualized in the literature. This includes as a mindset or stance, an analytic logic that promotes complex thinking, a theoretical framework, a philosophical paradigm that influences collaboration, and a multi-level approach to integrating data and/or findings to produce original insight. Implications for practice are juxtaposed with each of the conceptualizations to consider how a mixed methods way of thinking embodies an inquiry logic that engages complexity, provides an organizing framework to inform design choices, informs establishing a purpose that is committed to understanding diverse perspectives and experiences, contributes a philosophical grounding for productive collaboration, and, finally, provides a logic and rationale for integrating data from diverse sources. The article closes with an example to illustrate that when the different facets of its expression are considered together, a mixed methods way of thinking can provide an organizing framework to guide in the planning, conducting, and reporting of a mixed methods research study.