Mixed-Methods Research in Psychology: Rationales and Research Designs

Psychological science has long maintained a preference for quantitative methods over qualitative methods. The allegiance to one methodological family and the rejection of another means that at least, in part, the field’s methods are constraining the universe of research questions it is willing to ask. In this article, we provide an overview of mixed-methods research, which involves the use and integration of both qualitative and quantitative methods, and why psychology should do more of it. The focal audience is quantitatively oriented researchers who are interested in—and perhaps even skeptical of—the role of qualitative methods for their work. The article consists of three general sections: (a) a brief discussion of philosophical issues underlying the application of mixed-methods research in psychology, (b) a deeper examination of what constitutes “quantitative” and “qualitative” research, and (c) a description of four major mixed-methods-research designs that hold promise for psychology research. We provide researchers with broad conceptual foundations and concrete tools for how research questions in psychology can be mapped to different mixed-methods designs, helping correct for researchers’ lack of exposure and/or negative preconceptions that have inhibited uptake in the field.