Mixed-Methods Education Research: Is It Science?

Session Submission Type: Symposium

Abstract

To what extent mixed methods research is legitimate “science” is discussed by five leading AERA researchers, followed by the reflections of two leaders of the mixed methods research community. Within a contemporary policymaking culture increasingly divided by those who value and devalue “science,” the purpose of the symposium is to lay out multiple perspectives on this question. The relevance of the symposium can be tied to at least two academic discourses: current deliberations surrounding reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind law (which, for the past decade of federal funding of education research, has set a quantitatively defined standard of “science”) as well as to the dialogue around validity criteria for mixed methods designs.

Sub Unit

• SIG-Mixed Methods Research

Chair

• Carolyn S. Ridenour, University of Dayton

Papers

• Utilizing Mixed Data Analysis Techniques to Interpret Science and Evidence - Kathleen M.T Collins, University of Arkansas

• Where's the Science in Educational Research Praxis? - Sharlene J. Hesse-Biber, Boston College

• What Are We Mixing Here? Some Questions About Questions? - Yvonna S. Lincoln, Texas A&M University - College Station

• What Makes Mixed-Methods Research "Scientific"? - Joseph A. Maxwell, George Mason University

• What Makes Research Scientific? - Isadore Newman, Florida International University

Discussants

• Jennifer C. Greene, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

• Burke Johnson, University of South Alabama