The Numbers and the Narrative: A Mixed Methods Approach to Literature Synthesis Using Disproportionality

• In Event: Making Abstract Research Concepts Concrete: Using Paradigms and Theoretical Frameworks in Mixed Methods Research

Abstract

Literature syntheses are essential knowledge-generation tools, particularly for topics with long research histories traversing methodological traditions. However, there is little guidance for integrating methodologically diverse findings in a mixed-methods paradigm. Through an illustrative example on racial disproportionality in special education, gifted education, and exclusionary discipline, we demonstrate a replicable process for integrating qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methodological findings. As a topic, disproportionality provided a rich literature base and an unaddressed need for guidance among interest-holders in the policy and practice spaces. As with other complex social challenges, new understandings demand approaches that center context and lived experiences without overlooking important numerical patterns. We therefore detail a literature-synthesis process for generating meta-inferences that offer new understandings on a topic.

Authors

• Allison Firestone, San Francisco Unified School District

• Rebecca A. Cruz, Johns Hopkins University

• Logan McDermott, Johns Hopkins University

• Sarah A Caroleo, Brown University

• Rachel Saperstein McClam, Johns Hopkins University

• Hailey Love, University of Wisconsin - Madison