Axiology

refers to the dimension of research paradigms that reflects philosophical assumptions about the place of values in empirical research.

Blending

is a strategy for data consolidation where a variable, category, or theme generated from one type of analysis is tested using another type of data or where a variable, category, or factor is created by combining qualitative and quantitative data.

Complementarity argument

is a pragmatic assumption that claims that the use of a combination of methods can offset the weaknesses inherent in any method.

Complementarity design

seeks to gain a more holistic picture by exploring different aspects of the same phenomenon.

Concurrent mixed methods sampling

utilizes a single sample of participants where qualitative and quantitative data are collected simultaneously but not necessarily at a single point in time.

Connecting (or linking)

is a type of mixing that involves the integration of the qualitative and quantitative strands at the sampling stage by using quantitative data to select participants in the qualitative phase or, more rarely, by using qualitative data to identify the sample for the quantitative phases.

Content analysis

is an empirical research method for systematically analyzing data that are in textual or visual form.

Convergent validity

states that the confidence or credibility of results is enhanced when two or more methods produce congruent or comparable data (Jick, 1979).

Converting

is a strategy for data consolidation where qualitative data are converted to quantitative data or quantitative data to qualitative data so that they can be analyzed together.

Critical realism

is a paradigm that views entities as existing independently of being perceived but are only being partially and imperfectly perceived. All knowledge is viewed as partial, incomplete, and uncertain (Maxwell & Mittapalli, 2010).

Cross-case comparison

is a mixed method analytical strategy that consolidates qualitative and quantitative data by constructing holistic, internally coherent profiles that are used to test or expand upon qualitatively or quantitatively derived themes for the purposes of comparison.

Data transformation

is the conversion of qualitative data into quantitative data or quantitative data into qualitative data for the purposes of analysis.

Design

refers to a thoughtfully constructed link between the purposes of a research study and the strategies used to implement it.

Development design

uses the results of one method to inform the content or design of the other method. This label applies to two-phase instrument design studies as well as to studies that combine both exploratory and confirmatory phases of analysis.

Dialectical pluralism

is a paradigm that reflects what some consider to be the overarching logic of mixed methods: the deliberate engagement with different points of view and ways of achieving knowledge.

Embedding

is a type of mixing that occurs during data analysis that strategically brings qualitative and quantitative data together for analysis.

Epistemology

is the dimension of research paradigms that reflects philosophical assumptions about the relationship between the knower and reality and the participant and what constitutes credible or warranted conclusions or inferences.

Evaluation research

is focused on program development. It “involves the triangulation of qualitative and quantitative methods to examine acceptability, integrity, and effectiveness of intervention methods as both a formative and summative process” (Nastasi et al., 2007, p. 166).

[Page 246]Evaluation/intervention design

involves collecting qualitative and quantitative data to evaluate the effectiveness of an intervention, program, activity, class, or workshop.

Expansion design

describes studies where data are collected in more than two phases and from respondents at multiple levels of an organization or school (e.g., students, teachers, administrators).

Extreme case sampling

is a type of purposeful (rather than representative) sampling and involves selecting cases because they are at the extremes of a sampling distribution (i.e., outliers).

Fully integrated mixed methods research

is an approach to mixed methods research where there is the intention to mix or integrate the qualitative and quantitative strands of study throughout each of the stages or phases of the research process.

Incompatibility thesis

argues that qualitative and quantitative research are different and incompatible approaches.

Inferences

are conclusions or interpretations drawn from the results of the analysis in the quantitative, qualitative, and mixing strands.

Inferential transparency

is a type of methodological transparency that explicitly links the contribution of the qualitative, quantitative, and mixing strands to the conclusions drawn from a study.

Initiation design

involves exploring extreme or negative cases to test competing hypotheses or to explore unexpected or contradictory findings from earlier studies.

Interpretive comprehensiveness

involves the different ways that consideration of more than one viewpoint is incorporated, not only during the process of drawing conclusions but also throughout other phases of the research process.

Interpretive efficacy

refers to the degree to which inferences in each strand of a mixed methods study are effectively integrated into a conceptually coherent and substantively meaningful meta-inference.

Interpretive transparency

is a type of reflexivity that enhances the credibility of a study by explicitly linking the source of data to a conclusion or inference.

Linking

is a type of mixed method analytical procedure where qualitative and quantitative data are interwoven in a case narrative.

Logic of inquiry

is the overriding methodological or philosophical emphasis.

Mental models

are personal constructions that emerge from the experiences, beliefs, and values that come to pattern our lives (Greene, 2007).

Meta-inferences

are inferences that link, compare, contrast, or modify inferences generated by the qualitative and quantitative strands (Teddlie & Tashakkori, 2009, p. 300).

Methodological consistency

occurs when rigor is demonstrated by adherence to the philosophical and methodological assumptions of a method (Creswell, 1998).

Methodological foundation

refers to the expectation for authors of a mixed methods publication to demonstrate expertise in the research methods employed, including mixed methods.

Methodological transparency

promotes replication by providing explicit detail about the steps taken to complete data collection and data analysis as well as in specifying which results came from the qualitative analysis and which came from the quantitative analysis.

Methodology

is a coherent framework of philosophical assumptions, methods, guidelines for practice, and sociopolitical commitments (Greene, 2008).

Methods

consist of a systematic and coherent set of agreed-upon practices and procedures for conducting empirical research.

Mixed method sampling procedures

use various approaches to combine a traditional quantitative (i.e., probability) approach to sampling with a qualitative (i.e., purposeful) approach.

[Page 247]Mixed methods analytical procedures

set out to identify, compare, and consolidate thematically similar results by using more than one source or form of data.

Mixed priority mixed method studies

award the most attention to results that are produced through mixed methods analytical procedures.

Mixing

is the linking, merging, or embedding of qualitative and quantitative strands of a mixed methods study.

Multilevel/expansion designs

are studies that have multiple stages of data collection and address different research questions at each stage.

Multimethod studies

occur when more than one qualitative approach or more than one quantitative approach is used in a single study.

Ontology

is the dimension of research paradigms that reflects philosophical assumptions about the nature of truth and reality and whether it is external or constructed.

Paradigms

are not original idiosyncratic constructions but a set of philosophical assumptions that are inherently coherent about the nature of reality and the researcher’s role in constructing it that is agreed upon by a community of scholars.

Phases (or stages)

are steps in the process of completing a research study: planning and design, data collection, sampling, analysis, and drawing inferences.

Philosophical transparency

is present when authors or presenters explicitly articulate the philosophical foundations of their work.

Pragmatism

is a paradigm with a realist view that acknowledges diversity and complexity and sets aside debates about philosophy in favor of what works in a particular setting or for a particular set of research questions.

Priority

has conventionally been defined to distinguish three types of studies: where the qualitative strand is given priority, where the quantitative strand is given priority, and where the qualitative and quantitative strands of a study are given equal priority.

Qualitizing

is a mixed methods analytical strategy where measures on quantitative instruments are summarized in narrative form for the purposes of further analysis and cross-case comparison.

Quantitizing

which is when qualitative data is transformed into a quantitative format, often through frequency counts.

Quasi-mixed methods

contain both a qualitative and quantitative strand but lack any point of interface between the two (Teddlie & Tashakkori, 2009).

Replication

conveys an expectation that others using the same data and methods can duplicate the results of a study.

Sequential mixed method sampling

occurs when a subsequent sampling strategy is directly linked to the results of analytical procedures in an earlier strand or study.

Significance enhancement

increases the comprehensiveness, cohesiveness, robustness, and theoretical power of inferences and conclusions.

Text-in-context coding

is a form of mixing that occurs during the process of qualitative coding of textual or visual data. It is a systematic procedure to flesh out variation in the way a variable or theme is manifested.

Theoretical sampling

is a type of purposive sampling used in grounded theory to develop theoretical categories by application to a new sample of participants, sometimes in a different location. It is emergent in the sense that the sample is not determined until after the first phase of the analysis.

Timing

generally refers to the timing of the collection of the qualitative and quantitative data. Sequential designs are those in which one phase of data collection leads to another. Multiphase designs have more than two, often iterative, phases of data collection.

Transformative–emancipatory paradigms

are distinguished by the overtness of their axiological commitment to address issues of social justice and their commitment to nonhierarchical methods.

Triangulation

involves corroboration or verification through multiple data points or multiple types of data about the same phenomenon.

Validity

[Page 248]is a term used in both qualitative and quantitative research to refer to strategies that are used during data collection and analysis that confirm the credibility, confirmability, and justifiability of the findings and inferences drawn at the conclusion of a study.

Value-added

is an element of methodological transparency where the insight, inferences, or conclusions that are produced by the use of mixed methods are explicitly identified.