Mixed methods research: what it is and what it could be

Rob Timans (1) , Paul Wouters (2, 2) , Johan Heilbron (3)

1 Tilburg University [Netherlands]
2 Universiteit Leiden = Leiden University
3 CESSP - Centre européen de sociologie et de science politique

Combining methods in social scientific research has recently gained momentum through a research strand called Mixed Methods Research (MMR). This approach, which explicitly aims to offer a framework for combining methods, has rapidly spread through the social and behavioural sciences, and this article offers an analysis of the approach from a field theoretical perspective. After a brief outline of the MMR program, we ask how its recent rise can be understood. We then delve deeper into some of the specific elements that constitute the MMR approach, and we engage critically with the assumptions that underlay this particular conception of using multiple methods. We conclude by offering an alternative view regarding methods and method use.

A partir d'une analyse en termes de champ, cet article explore l'émergence de l'approche dite des méthodologies mixtes (Mixed Methods Research) dans les sciences sociales et comportementales.

Keywords: data; field analysis; mixed methods research; multiple methods; reflexivity; Sociology of science

Keywords: Données; champ; méthodes mixtes; réflexivité; Sociologie des sciences

Domains: Sociology; Methods and statistics; History, Philosophy and Sociology of Sciences

Rob Timans, Paul Wouters, Johan Heilbron. Mixed methods research: what it is and what it could be. Theory and Society, 2019, 48 (2), pp.193-216. ⟨10.1007/s11186-019-09345-5⟩. ⟨halshs-02115402⟩