Inference Quality in a Multilevel Mixed-Methods Study of Quality Management in Greek Higher Education

• In Event: Ensuring Quality in Mixed-Methods Research in Higher Education: From Theory to Praxis

Abstract

As increased utilization of mixed methods in human research continues, a dearth of systematic literature on the quality of inferences in such research exists. Discussion about the application of criteria researchers use to their own mixed methods study is needed. The objective of this presentation is to share my own assessment methodology of a multi-level mixed design that used isomorphism to explain quality management in Greek higher education.
The methodological steps and criteria for evaluating the quality of the entire study that I will provide in this presentation mostly based on the Teddlie and Tashakkori’s 2009 integrated framework and were applied to a study of Greek Higher education that focused on change and stability as it regarded the introduction of quality management into that system.
The study’s design involved mixing qualitative and quantitative approaches in three levels (macro, meso, and micro) in an interactive way. The characteristic of my study was that I employed five empirical studies and one environmental scanning in order to explain the adoption of quality management in Greek higher education which quality assurance, evaluation, and quality management were heavily debated for the universities in Greece. Like a scaffold, each empirical study of this research was built on and was designed to harmonize with others. The empirical study took place over a two-year period from 2005 to 2007. However, each empirical study occurred at a specific period.
Each empirical study used a different methodology, which had a particular value for studying the phenomenon at various levels. I used the meta-inference process from the three levels (macro, meso, and micro levels inferences) in order to research the conceptual framework of my study and finally explained the study phenomenon. Inferences made in each level addressed the purpose of this study and meet the stated need for utilizing a multi-level mixed design. Overall the MM design used in this study supported the proposition that the use of the “multi-level mixed design” both concurrent and sequential data collection was appropriate and provided an analytical, sophisticated, unique and telescopic way to approach the adoption of quality management via neo-institutional theory. The challenge was how the MM travels across neo-institutional theory and quality management at different levels in Greek higher education without violating the objective of the MM “rules and regulations». The evaluation criteria that were adopted for this study proved to be very helpful to keep a methodical balance in order to assess the quality of the overall project. Quality criteria were considered and applied during data collection, data analysis, while inference happened in each of the five empirical studies, as well as during the integration of the entire study. Perhaps this application could serve other researchers who seek practical guidelines through examples and methods where quality criteria were applied in a Mixed Methods study.

Author

• Antigoni Papadimitriou, University of Oslo