Toward a Framework for Improving the Quality of Mixed Research Reports: A Call for Rigor as an Ethical Practice

• In Event: 16.057 - Roundtable Session 5
  In Roundtable Session: 16.057-10 - Mixed-Methods Frameworks and Applications

Abstract

Mixed research studies have been underrepresented across many fields and disciplines. A plausible explanation for these low prevalence rates is that a high proportion of mixed research studies that are being submitted to journals is being rejected due to lack of rigor. We view attention to rigor as an ethical issue because researchers are united by the goal of achieving meaning-making through seeking to minimize threats to verification/trustworthiness/
legitimation/authenticity/credibility/transferability/dependability/confirmability. To enhance rigor, and thus ethicality, we provide evidence-based guidelines for conducting and reporting mixed research that are framed around Col¬lins, Onwuegbuzie, and Sutton’s (2006) 13-step model of the mixed research process. Further, we divide our reporting standards into four general areas—research formulation, research planning, research implementation, and research dissemination.

Authors

• Julie Anne Corrigan, University of Ottawa

• Anthony J. Onwuegbuzie, Sam Houston State University