{"id":497,"date":"2019-11-08T11:02:43","date_gmt":"2019-11-08T11:02:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/guires.uk\/newsroom\/?p=497"},"modified":"2019-11-27T12:12:58","modified_gmt":"2019-11-27T12:12:58","slug":"quasi-experimental-study-mixed-method-design-mmr-serves-as-an-umbrella-for-several-sub-questions-that-address-evidence-based-policymaking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/guires.uk\/newsroom\/blog\/quasi-experimental-study-mixed-method-design-mmr-serves-as-an-umbrella-for-several-sub-questions-that-address-evidence-based-policymaking\/","title":{"rendered":"Quasi-Experimental Study Mixed-Method Design: MMR serves as an umbrella for several sub-questions that address evidence-based\u2019 policymaking"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Any research that attempts\nto formulate a conclusion from a\nparticular path of inquiry uses aspects of scientific method. Although its\npresentation and interpretation vary across the field, but overall premises are unaltered (Edmonds et al., 2014). Mixed method research is becoming increasingly articulated to research practice\nand recognised as the primary research paradigm. In this context, the\npresent paper critically analyses the chosen research method, in this case, mixed\ndesign in the quasi-experimental study<\/em>\n(Shadish et al., 2002) applied in a broad\nrange of studies from natural as well as social\nsciences, to develop insights into and strategies for achieving this\nintegration. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mixed Methods and Mixed Design in Quasi-Experimental Study <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Mixed research, as its name indicates, involves the\nmixing of quantitative and qualitative methods or paradigm characteristics\n(collecting, analysing and interpreting) in a single study or series of studies\nthat investigate the same underlying\nparadigm (Leech &\nOnwuegbuzie, 2009). Quasi-experimental research (QER) designs like experimental\ndesign test causal hypothesis and this method are\napplied in the research when it is not possible to randomise individuals or groups to treatment or control group.\nGenerally, such research can be observed\nin ex-post impact evaluation designs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Usage of Mixed Methods & Potential advantages of\nMixed Design in Quasi-Experimental Study <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In general, MMR is of three types, i.e., exploratory sequential, explanatory sequential and convergent\nand other advanced designs (concurrent, parallel) (Creswell, 2015) that embed QER. However, the choice of design is based on the research question being posed along with the timing of collected data, the relative weight of the quantitative and\nqualitative to answer the research\nquestion (Creswell & Clark,\n2011) and approach adopted to mix the two data sets. Combing\nmethods within a single study, surpasses the advantages of having a singular\nmethodology, by consolidating the development of triangulation (Robinson &\nMendelson, 2012) Mixed design offers advantages as it seeks\nconvergence and corroboration of findings, expansion i.e.,<\/em> seek to expand the\nrange and breadth of inquiry, development, and initiation (Greene, 1989). MMR\nserves as an umbrella for several sub-questions, as it calls for separate sets of qualitative and quantitative followed by\nmixed method (Tashakkori &\nTeddlie, 2003). As emphasised,\na qualitative design may succeed a quantitative to explore potential impacts,\nthereby it offers a rich understanding of\nthe context and can strengthen each result. Secondly, explaining, enriching,\nrefuting and confirming findings from one approach can complement the other\nthrough the concept of triangulation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Examples of Mixed methods used in Literature<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

MMR has been\napplied in many types of research. Specifically it provides right insights,\nstrengthening the policy relevance of impact assessments. For instance, Buckley, (2015) examined the effect of policy instruments\ncontributing to indigenous firm growth\nusing sequential mixed-method quasi-experimental design. The resulting analyses\nallowed policy recommendations thereby creating an ethos of \u2018evidence-based\u2019 policymaking. Further MMR research has also been widely used in clinical\nresearch and public health interventions in real-world settings when\nevidence-based interventions are known. Kong et al., (2018) employed a sequential hybrid model, with an embedded\nquasi-experimental model where the qualitative\ninquiry was conducted in the first stage\nfollowed by a quantitative evaluation to design an architectural intervention\nand determine its effectiveness in enhancing knowledge, attitude and behaviour\namong school students. The application of MMR design enabled the researchers to\ncreate highly robust research by investigating multifaced architectural issues that promoted innovation\nwith the design and planning. Weinhardt et al., (2017) evaluated the impact of multi-level economic and food\nsecurity intervention on health outcomes and HIV vulnerability. Authors\ncompared who received the SAFE\nintervention, against those who did not by collecting quantitative data in\nbaseline, 18-month and 36-month follow-up. The second sample was from a random\nsample community where interviewing was done in all households who were not\ndirect participants in the SAFE and the control groups. Finally, in-depth\nqualitative interviews and focus groups were conducted to understand SAFE\nparticipant\u2019s experiences. The intervention package designed had positive\neffects. Brenner et al., (2014) had an objective to increase the number of deliveries\nand had conducted a quality assessment\nusing some indicators. In a second step,\nselected facilities that met quality\ncriteria were selected for intervention.\nFinally, a qualitative study was\nconducted to understand the perceptions on quality care and service utilization. The design permits the assessment of organisational and behaviour\nchanges. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Challenges of Mixed Methods <\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Although mixed method design offers advantages, still\nvalidity (internal and external) of the research been questioned and well\ndocumented in the literature. Studies had identified history bias, selection\nbias, maturation bias, lack of blinding, differential dropout, and variability\nin interactive effects (White & Sabarwal,\n2014). Many researchers might not have the expertise to\nconduct MMR, challenges in analysing quantitative and qualitative. They also\nneed to work for a diverse team on the identification of underlying assumption that they can bring to the research question. It is therefore plagued by\nthe problems of representation, integration and legitimation. Despite the above\nchallenges, still, MMR in quasi-design has been widely used in the study\nof impact assessment. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Any research that attempts to formulate a conclusion from a particular path of inquiry uses aspects of scientific method. Although its presentation and interpretation vary across the field, but overall premises are unaltered (Edmonds et al., 2014). Mixed method research is becoming increasingly articulated to research practice and recognised as the primary research paradigm. In […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":928,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-497","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/guires.uk\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/497","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/guires.uk\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/guires.uk\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/guires.uk\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/guires.uk\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=497"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/guires.uk\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/497\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":877,"href":"https:\/\/guires.uk\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/497\/revisions\/877"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/guires.uk\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/928"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/guires.uk\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=497"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/guires.uk\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=497"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/guires.uk\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=497"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}