Showing papers in "Journal of Mixed Methods Research in 2009"
TL;DR: This article presented a list of 30 topics currently being discussed in the field of mixed methods research and discussed the potential contributions of these topics in the future of mixed method research, including some recent insightful contributions that have emerged in the literature.
Abstract: The intent of this editorial is to advance my list of topics currently being discussed in the field of mixed methods research. As one who has been involved in the mixed methods field since its beginning 20 years ago, I have some sense of the topics that have evolved and that hold center stage in mixed methods discussions. Furthermore, as one of the founding coeditors of the Journal of Mixed Methods Research (JMMR; and outgoing editor after June 2009), I have been privileged to have examined close to 300 manuscripts submitted to the journal in the past 3 years, and I have taken notes on what I have seen as potential contributions of these manuscripts to the field of mixed methods research. My discussion will first address why we, as researchers, need a map of the field at this current time. Then I will advance a list of 30 topics that are being discussed today in the mixed methods literature. To crosscheck the accuracy of my list, I will reflect on the topics that were discussed last summer at the 2008 Mixed Methods Conference at Cambridge University, UK. I will note differences and similarities between the papers presented at the conference and my list. Then I will select four topics from my list, discuss the development of the topics, and note recent insightful contributions that have emerged in the literature. Finally, I will end with some thoughts about the future of mixed methods research. I hope that by reading this editorial you will learn how one individual constructs the field of mixed methods today, obtain a glimpse into what topics current writers presented at the Mixed Methods Conference last July, and assess how your mixed methods manuscript might make a contribution to the field.
498 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a sociological study discussed used a combination of methods (questionnaire survey, group interviews, and individual interviews) to obtain a fuller view of young people's perspectives on their lives.
Abstract: Substantial integration of quantitative and qualitative data and findings in mixed methods studies is seldom seen, although maximizing the potential of the approach depends on this. An absence of exemplars has been identified as among a number of factors that currently impede integration in studies carried out by researchers using the approach. This article offers an example of how maximum integration of data sets can be achieved. The sociological study discussed used a combination of methods—questionnaire survey, group interviews, and individual interviews—to obtain a fuller view of young people's perspectives on their lives. Aspects of the project's research design and analyses that were instrumental to achieving a genuinely integrated mixed methods approach are identified.
239 citations
TL;DR: Although the epistemological arguments of the ‘‘paradigm wars’’ sharpened the authors' thinking about issues related to mixed methodology, their lingering legacy has been to slow the progress of integration of methods.
Abstract: Although the epistemological arguments of the ‘‘paradigm wars’’ sharpened our thinking about issues related to mixed methodology, their lingering legacy has been to slow the progress of integration of methods. All mixed methods studies, by definition, attempt some form of integration, but the paradigm debates have made many researchers nervous about integrating the various strands of their research before they reach the point of drawing conclusions. There has, indeed, been a degree of illogic in the way some researchers have dealt with the issue of integration of data sources and analyses, where it has been considered epistemologically unacceptable to combine these, and yet desirable to corroborate or integrate conclusions drawn from data generated through diverse perspectives. In any case, as noted many years ago by Miles and Huberman (1994), these arguments are largely unproductive. From a pragmatic perspective, the primary issue is to determine what data and analyses are needed to meet the goals of the research and answer the questions at hand. Alternatively, a realist perspective encourages one to seek both processand variable-oriented data to both detect regularities and understand the mechanisms by which they occur (Maxwell, 2008).
221 citations
TL;DR: How mixed methods research has developed in the health sciences is considered, and the contribution this field has made to the wider mixed methodsResearch endeavor is considered.
Abstract: Mixed methods research is undertaken in a wide range of fields, such as education, psychology, social sciences, and health sciences. The acceptance of this approach, levels of understanding, and ways in which methods are combined, may differ by research field. This makes it important to reflect on the state of methodological development within specific research fields as well as at a more macro mixed methods level. There may also be methodological developments in one field, which can benefit researchers in other fields. Health sciences is an interesting field to consider because mixed methods research is commonly used (O’Cathain, Murphy, & Nicholl, 2007) and has been the focus of discussions for many years (Baum, 1995; Morse, 1991). Here I consider how mixed methods research has developed in the health sciences, and the contribution this field has made to the wider mixed methods research endeavor. The health sciences field can encompass a wide range of research communities—public health, nursing, health promotion, health informatics, health services research, medical research, professions allied to medicine, and more. Each of these communities has a different history, value set, and preference for addressing different types of research questions, making it a challenge to consider the state of mixed methods research within the whole of ‘‘health sciences.’’ It is also the case that research communities develop in different ways depending on the country in which they are based. Although mixed methods research in health sciences has been discussed generally (Forthofer, 2003), here I draw lessons from the research community I know best—health services research within the United Kingdom. Health services researchers focus on health care provision rather than on causes of diseases. Research questions address access to care and the effectiveness and costeffectiveness of both established and new interventions. Historically, health services researchers in the United Kingdom have used quantitative methodology, with an emphasis on the use of randomized controlled trials to address the effectiveness of interventions. Qualitative methods have been used within the field for many years, but in the past have been dismissed as ‘‘poor science.’’ This changed 13 years ago when we experienced what might be termed a quiet revolution. Two researchers made a stand for the acceptance of qualitative methodology as a way of addressing questions that tended to remain unanswered in our quantitative dominant approach, such as why do some new health care interventions work and others do not (Pope & Mays, 1995). The revolution brought medical sociologists and anthropologists—who had always worked within health research—more centrally into the discipline mix of our field. The revolution was not a replacement of quantitative research with qualitative research, nor a separate qualitative research endeavor, but rather the combined use of qualitative and quantitative methods within single studies. That is, mixed methods research gained repute and momentum, with the proportion Journal of Mixed Methods Research Volume 3 Number 1 January 2009 3-6 © 2009 Sage Publications 10.1177/1558689808326272 http://jmmr.sagepub.com hosted at http://online.sagepub.com
119 citations
TL;DR: There is no discernible trend in the aggregate across this time period for the collection of journals studied, but issues explored include defining research categories and subsequently categorizing studies, balance and dominance between quantitative and qualitative strands, and integration within conclusions.
Abstract: This mixed methods examination of 710 research articles in mathematics education published in six prominent educational journals during the period 1995-2005 finds that 50% of the studies used qualitative methods only, 21% used quantitative methods only, and 29% mixed qualitative and quantitative methods in various ways. Although the number of mixed methods articles show some variation year to year and journal to journal, there is no discernible trend in the aggregate across this time period for the collection of journals studied. Issues explored include defining research categories and subsequently categorizing studies, balance and dominance between quantitative and qualitative strands, and integration within conclusions.
118 citations
TL;DR: The aim of this article is to advance the case of pragmatism as a research philosophy and to illustrate its applicability as a mixed methodology perspective in medical informatics.
Abstract: The aim of this article is to advance the case of pragmatism as a research philosophy and to illustrate its applicability as a mixed methodology perspective in medical informatics Epistemology is empirical not foundational Pragmatism offers a practical starting point for a pluralist methodology Medical practice is pragmatist, empirical, and situated Medical informatics is a hybrid sociotechnical field that requires multimethod research
98 citations
TL;DR: Although mixing quantitative and qualitative methods is increasingly popular, there is insufficient theoretical rationale for doing so as discussed by the authors, which is the legacy left to the social and behavioral sciences left behind to the present generation.
Abstract: Although mixing quantitative and qualitative methods is increasingly popular, there is insufficient theoretical rationale for doing so. Foremost among the legacy left to the social and behavioral s...
80 citations
TL;DR: The authors examined 50 elementary teachers' emotions during eight workshops on the writing process, by using repeated questionnaires with scale and open-ended questions, follow-up questionnaires 4 months later, and participant interviews.
Abstract: Teaching is emotional, especially when teachers must change their practices. Past research on emotions and change in the general population has been predominately quantitative. Research about teachers' emotions, however, has been predominately qualitative. To draw on both these approaches, this mixed methods study examined 50 elementary teachers' emotions during eight workshops on the writing process, by using repeated questionnaires with scale and open-ended questions, follow-up questionnaires 4 months later, and participant interviews. Quantitative data revealed that teachers' emotions became more positive, but returned to initial levels 4 months later. Quantitative data analysis found no relationships between emotions and change in practice. Interviews, however, revealed mixed emotions related to changes found in the quantitative data.
68 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that there is an emergent convergence of methodologies and analytical purposes between qualitative geography and qualitative social science, and show how methodological and analytical convergence has been enabled by technological convergence between geographical information systems (GIS) and qualitative software (CAQDAS).
Abstract: The article explores qualitative geography and qualitative social science as sites of mixed methods research practice. The authors argue that there is an emergent convergence of methodologies and analytical purposes between qualitative geography and qualitative social science. The authors show how methodological and analytical convergence has been enabled by technological convergence between geographical information systems (GIS) and qualitative software (CAQDAS). The argument is illustrated by examples of convergent geo-referenced mixed methods studies, including a main example from research on reproductive health in Paraguay.
67 citations
TL;DR: This article explored how African American girls from low SES communities position themselves in science learning and found that the girls' orientations towards science were best described in terms of definitions of science, importance of sc...
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to increase the science education community’s understanding of the experiences and needs of girls who cross the traditional categorical boundaries of gender, race and socioeconomic status in a manner that has left their needs and experience largely invisible. A first of several in a series, this study sought to explore how African American girls from low SES communities position themselves in science learning. We followed a mixed-methods sequential explanatory strategy, in which two data collection phases, qualitative following the quantitative, were employed to investigate 89 African-American girls’ personal orientations towards science learning. By using quantitative data from the Modified Attitudes toward Science Inventory to organize students into attitude profiles and then sequentially integrating the profile scores with year-long interview data, we found that the girls’ orientations towards science were best described in terms of definitions of science, importance of sc...
65 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors illustrate this problem using an example in which three study phases (quantitative, qualitative, and intervention) are applied, and explain these inconsistencies by way of the complementary approach: Conflicting findings should be integrated, and consistency is restored by admitting complexity in the phenomenon under investigation.
Abstract: Combining diverse methods in a single study raises a problem: What should be done when the findings of one method of investigation conflict with those of another? The authors illustrate this problem using an example in which three study phases—quantitative, qualitative, and intervention—are applied. The findings from the quantitative phase did not fit those from the qualitative phase; there were discrepancies within the qualitative phase itself, and the findings from the single-case evaluations of the intervention using standardized scales did not fit the findings derived from self-made scales. The authors explain these inconsistencies by way of the complementary approach: Conflicting findings should be integrated, and consistency is restored by admitting complexity in the phenomenon under investigation.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors show that the findings of one method of investigation conflict with those of another, and explain these inconsistencies by way of the complementary approach: conflicting findings should be integrated, and consistency is restored by admitting complexity in the phenomenon under investigation.
Abstract: Combining diverse methods in a single study raises a problem: What should be done when the findings of one method of investigation conflict with those of another? We illustrate this problem using an example in which three study phases—quantitative, qualitative, and intervention—were applied. The findings coming from the quantitative phase did not fit those coming from the qualitative phase; there were discrepancies within the qualitative phase itself, and the findings coming from single-case evaluations of the intervention using standardized scales did not fit the findings derived from self-made scales. We explain these inconsistencies by way of the complementary approach: conflicting findings should be integrated, and consistency is restored by admitting complexity in the phenomenon under investigation.
TL;DR: In this paper, a mixed method study assessed how work culture and drinking norms affect heavy drinking patterns of young adults during their first three years in the U.S. Navy and found that normative beliefs were significantly associated with changes in drinking.
Abstract: A mixed method study assessed how work culture and drinking norms affect heavy drinking patterns of young adults during their first 3 years in the U.S. Navy. Multivariate logistic regression analysis of the longitudinal survey data showed that normative beliefs were significantly associated with changes in drinking. Findings from thematic analyses of qualitative interviews and naturalistic observations on bases and aboard ships explained those elements of U.S. Navy culture and work environments that affect normative beliefs about drinking behavior.
TL;DR: In this article, a longitudinal explanatory study examined how two classes were designed, taught, and evaluated, using a research proposal generation process to highlight the importance of the purpose, research question and methodology relationship following eight interactive features: problem/focus of the study, intended audience, role of the researcher, theory, exploratory, explanatory, confirmatory, and/or critical design.
Abstract: Teaching mixed methods research is difficult. This longitudinal explanatory study examined how two classes were designed, taught, and evaluated. Curriculum, Research, and Teaching (EDCS-606) and Mixed Methods Research (EDCS-780) used a research proposal generation process to highlight the importance of the purpose, research question and methodology relationship following eight interactive features: (a) problem/focus of the study; (b) intended audience; (c) the role of the researcher; (d) theory, (e) exploratory, explanatory, confirmatory, and/or critical design; (f) how the project is ‘‘bound’’; (g) sampling; and (h) validity/ credibility issues. Advanced organizers and concept maps were included in the introductory and advanced research classes to support students. Analysis of the case studies revealed the curricula and strategies markedly improved student dissertation and thesis proposals.
TL;DR: The youth mentoring program Big Brothers Big Sisters is one of the first social interventions involving youth in Ireland to be evaluated using a randomized controlled trial methodology as discussed by the authors, and the design process is described, describing how the research team came to adopt a concurrent embedded mixed methods design as a means of balancing ethical, feasibility, and scientific issues associated with the RCT.
Abstract: The youth mentoring program Big Brothers Big Sisters is one of the first social interventions involving youth in Ireland to be evaluated using a randomized controlled trial methodology. This article sets out the design process undertaken, describing how the research team came to adopt a concurrent embedded mixed methods design as a means of balancing ethical, feasibility, and scientific issues associated with the randomized controlled trial method, establishing an epistemological position and integrating data from various methods and multiple sources.
TL;DR: In this article, a study examines the geopolitical agency of Palestinian children, using focus groups and interviews with 12 children living in refugee camps, villages, and cities in the West Bank, in order to identify the etiologies contributing to processes of political socialization.
Abstract: This study examines the geopolitical agency of Palestinian children. Mixed methodology was used to identify the etiologies contributing to processes of political socialization. Both qualitative and qualitative methods are equally distributed throughout this research. Focus groups and interviews with 12 Palestinian children, aged 10 to 13 years, living in refugee camps, villages, and cities in the West Bank were used to develop a survey instrument. The survey was administrated to 1% of the students attending school, Grades 5 to 7, in the West Bank, Palestine. The use of mixed methodology revealed the interconnectedness of formal and informal political socialization that produces the geopolitical agency of Palestinian children. Findings elaborated on the processes and the relationships used to describe children's geopolitical agency.
TL;DR: Patients who quit drinking tended to attribute postdiagnosis drinking to occasional triggers, whereas patients who were still drinking were more likely to endorse rationales not tied to specific triggers.
Abstract: Most studies of decisions to curtail alcohol consumption reflect experiences of abusing drinkers. We employ an exploratory sequential research design to explore the applicability of this research to the experience of nonabusing drinkers advised to curtail alcohol consumption after a Hepatitis C diagnosis. A qualitative component identified 17 new decision factors not reflected in an inventory of factors based on synthesis of existing scales. We triangulated qualitative data by supplementing semi-structured interviews with Internet postings. A quantitative component estimated prevalence and association with current drinking of these new decision factors. Patients who quit drinking tended to attribute post-diagnosis drinking to occasional triggers, whereas patients who were still drinking were more likely to endorse rationales not tied to specific triggers.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigate how respondents' opinions inform the validation argument and highlight the use of think-aloud interviews as an explanatory tool for the validation process and demonstrate how quantitative and qualitative data can be used in concert.
Abstract: Researchers in the areas of psychology and education strive to understand the intersections among validity, educational measurement, and cognitive theory. Guided by a mixed model conceptual framework, this study investigates how respondents' opinions inform the validation argument. Validity evidence for a science assessment was collected through traditional paper-and-pencil tests, surveys, and think-aloud and exit interviews of fifth- and sixth-grade students. Item response theory analyses supplied technical descriptions of evidence investigating the internal structure. Surveys provided information regarding perceived item difficulty and fairness. Think-aloud and exit interviews provided context and response processes information to clarify and explain issues. This research demonstrates how quantitative and qualitative data can be used in concert to inform the validation process and highlights the use of think-aloud interviews as an explanatory tool.
TL;DR: This methodological discussion outlines the process of constructing a mixed methods design using a research project that explored the older driver—copilot relationship and how vehicular technology might influence this relationship, including potential implications on driving safety.
Abstract: This methodological discussion outlines the process of constructing a mixed methods design using a research project that explored the older driver—copilot relationship and how vehicular technology ...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors describe a participatory approach for organizing a set of ideas that are held by a group of individuals to develop a common framework, which is a hybrid technique that integrates qualitative techniques (such as brainstorming) with quantitative techniques (including multivariate statistical analysis based on sorts of the brainstormed ideas) into a tightly structured process.
Abstract: This small book describes a participatory approach for organizing a set of ideas that are held by a group of individuals to develop a common framework. Concept mapping is a hybrid technique that integrates qualitative techniques (such as brainstorming) with quantitative techniques (including multivariate statistical analysis based on sorts of the brainstormed ideas) into a tightly structured process. Although the focus of the book is on use of concept mapping for such practical programmatic purposes as program planning and evaluation, its relevance as a component of a larger (and generalizable) program of research is also clear—though with more effort required from the reader. As the method described is inherently integrative, the book should be of particular interest to readers of this journal. So what is concept mapping? In the words of the authors,
TL;DR: Although the book makes valid points regarding the desirability and urgency of qualitative research influencing health policy, because its focus is on aging and public health research in the United States, in this regard it is less relevant to UK readers who exist in a different political system.
Abstract: This book makes a strong argument for the use of qualitative research, supported by mixed methods, for exploring policy issues and practice in the area of public health and aging. Critical debate by eminent social scientists takes account of relevant challenges and issues in designing, implementing, and writing about qualitative and mixed methods research in this field. The issues covered are relatively wide-ranging and include areas related to cultural aspects of qualitative research, principles of qualitative analysis with software techniques, and the importance of quality control mechanisms (e.g., validity, reliability) in the maintenance of academic rigor in mixed method designs. The book is divided into four sections (although this is not clear in the table of contents). Each section offers a general chapter on qualitative and/or mixed methodology before progressing to more specific examples of research solutions relevant to aging or public health issues. Section 1 places qualitative methods in perspective. The discussion is erudite and interesting, although readers with some research experience would gain most benefit from it. Section 2 presents considerations in conceptualization and design of qualitative and mixed methods research, starting with the qualitative–quantitative debate, then moving on to methods of data collection, mixed methods, and maintaining validity. Mixed methods is presented as a means to provide information about complex phenomena when one method is inadequate to do so, but a means that must be employed carefully so as not to abuse the assumptions of component methods. Section 3 focuses on planning and implementing sound analyses. Two particularly thought-provoking chapters within this section, on social networks and cultural differences as they affect the health of older people, offered insights into the difficulty of making sense of complex information. Section 4 deals with effectively communicating qualitative and mixed methods research. Two of the chapters in this section are devoted to the preparation and presentation of an effective publishable manuscript. Disclosure of the experiences of journal editors, their trials and tribulations, and their personal recommendations enhance discussion on this topic. Having a clear exemplar of how to write a rigorous fundable proposal for qualitative research is also a useful contribution in this section. Although the book makes valid points regarding the desirability and urgency of qualitative research influencing health policy, because its focus is on aging and public health research in the United States, in this regard it is less relevant to UK readers who exist in a different political system. It could be argued that the United Kingdom has a recent trend for consultation with laity, service users, and relevant stakeholders in the generation of health policy combined with a tradition of positive influence from charitable organizations such as ‘‘The Roundtree Trust’’ in using mixed methodology to comment on policy. Perhaps because of the book’s policy orientation, it is addressed to those who already have an understanding of the major issues of research and research methods; it is neither a general research text nor sufficiently detailed about public health and aging to suit the Journal of Mixed Methods Research Volume 3 Number 4 October 2009 414-415 © 2009 The Author(s) 10.1177/1558689809340778 http://jmmr.sagepub.com
TL;DR: In this article, Creswell, Plano Clark, and Garrett extend their previous typology of mixed method designs by further explicating how each of these types should be conducted and how problems in such studies can be addressed.
Abstract: Manfred Max Bergman has edited an important work for mixed method researchers, one that can advance the field in several ways. The book consists of 11 chapters, plus an introduction, ‘‘Whither mixed methods?’’ by Bergman. The chapters are grouped into two sections, one on the theory of mixed method design and the other on applications in mixed method design. However, I see the chapters as falling into two distinct types that do not completely correspond to this division. First, there are descriptions of ‘‘advances’’ in the usual sense—new approaches, developments, or applications in mixed method design or methods (the chapters by Creswell et al., Tashakkori and Teddlie, De Leeuw and Hox, Widmer et al., and Niglas et al.). Second, there are contributions that are mainly critiques of some aspect of the current state of mixed method research (the chapters by Bergman, Hammersley, Fielding, Brannen, Bryman, and Pawson). Because there has been little of this sort of critique in the mixed method literature, I will devote more of my review to the latter chapters. In the first group of chapters, Creswell, Plano Clark, and Garrett extend their previous typology of mixed method designs by further explicating how each of these types should be conducted and how problems in such studies can be addressed. Tashakkori and Teddlie review the literature on inference quality in qualitative and quantitative research and present a synthesis of typologies of quality issues and criteria. Researchers who are drawn to such typologies will find these contributions extremely useful, and even those who are not can gain valuable ideas. De Leuuw and Hox discuss what they call ‘‘mixed mode’’ survey research: the use of different quantitative strategies in a survey. They argue that many of the issues that arise in this approach are similar to those in mixed method research, and understanding how mixed mode researchers deal with these issues can be valuable to mixed method researchers. Widmer, Hirschi, Serduelt, and Voegeli describe APES (the actor-process-event scheme), a strategy for converting qualitative case study data into quantitative network displays. Finally, Niglas, Kaipainen, and Kippar present ESO (Exploratory Soft Ontology), a software tool for multiperspective knowledge construction. Fully understanding the latter two contributions requires more quantitative sophistication than I possess. In the second group of contributions, all the authors see the integration of quantitative and qualitative methods and data as more problematic than is often assumed. Bergman, in ‘‘The Straw Men of the Qualitative-Quantitative Divide and Their Influence on Mixed Method Research,’’ claims that mixed method research, in delineating the relative strengths of qualitative and quantitative methods, is simply perpetuating highly questionable assumptions about the paradigmatic unity and identity of each approach. (Bergman could have noted Hammersley’s earlier work (1992) on this issue.) He argues that we need to get beyond general statements of the differences between the two approaches and look at how the latter are actually combined in specific studies. Although I strongly agree with the latter point, I wish Bergman had addressed the distinction between variance and process approaches to explanation, which I see as a key difference between the two types of research (Maxwell, 2004). Journal of Mixed Methods Research Volume 3 Number 4 October 2009 411-413 © 2009 The Author(s) 10.1177/1558689809339316 http://jmmr.sagepub.com
TL;DR: The Handbook of Emergent Methods as discussed by the authors provides a comprehensive overview of emergent research issues as well as potentially powerful innovations in research processes and methods practices in the social and behavioral sciences, and is designed to both encourage established researchers to explore new research tools and lenses and thereby enrich their practices, and to inform graduate students as they design studies to answer their research questions.
Abstract: In the Handbook of Emergent Methods, Hesse-Biber and Leavy present a comprehensive overview of emergent research issues as well as potentially powerful innovations in research processes and methods practices in the social and behavioral sciences. The Handbook is designed to both encourage established researchers to explore new research tools and lenses and thereby enrich their practices, and to inform graduate students as they design studies to answer their research questions. The Handbook’s authors do an admirable job of locating the reader inside an exciting world of novel and cutting-edge research methods, guided by theory and research, and presented by scholars representing a wide range of disciplines. The text is suitable for graduate-level research methods courses in education, psychology, the humanities, and health services fields. Although Hesse-Biber and Leavy suggest that the Handbook may be appropriate for upper-level undergraduates as well, I think that only a few chapters are suitable for this audience. The 740-page hardbound text consists of an introductory chapter by the Handbook’s authors and 3 major sections consisting of 32 original chapters from leading scholars. At the beginning of each section, the Handbook’s authors provide a useful fourto eight-page introduction. The first section, ‘‘Historical Context of Emergent Methods and Innovation in the Practice of Research Methods,’’ consists of 17 chapters acquainting the reader with practices that have transformed more traditional research approaches. For instance, the chapter on visual research methods highlights how the digital revolution has transformed the way we design studies, and collect, save, store, and present data and related findings in ways that are intriguingly different from those we used just a few years ago. Similarly, the oral history chapter touts the promise of new digital tools for collecting data and disseminating information in nonlinear, dialogic ways, and cautions against traditional, fixed documentary versions of oral histories that marginalize other possible meanings of the material. I found the narrative ethnography chapter thought provoking as well, as it effectively argues how new concepts like ‘‘narrative control’’ and ‘‘narrative resources’’ can stimulate new research questions and thus extend the field. The second section of the textbook, ‘‘Innovations in Research Methods Design and Analysis,’’ consists of Chapters 18 through 24. I found this section of the Handbook particularly well conceived and useful because it not only offers innovative research designs and analyses but also provides numerous examples to inform and guide the reader. For example, the ‘‘Mixing Quantitative and Qualitative Approaches’’ and ‘‘Emergent Techniques in the Gathering and Analysis of Mixed Method Data’’ chapters make exceptionally strong contributions to the text because of their clarity and compelling attempts to draw the reader into the world of mixed method research design. Their salient examples from prior research and their proposals for answering new research questions through mixed method designs are persuasive and precise. I enjoyed the ‘‘Hearing Voices’’ chapter, too, because of its extended use of examples employing the ‘‘Listening Guide’’ as an emergent means to analyze interview data, though I wish the conclusion to the chapter was written more clearly. Another contribution of the chapters in this section was their extensive and Journal of Mixed Methods Research Volume 3 Number 1 January 2009 90-92 © 2009 Sage Publications http://jmmr.sagepub.com hosted at http://online.sagepub.com