Complexity Theories in Education SIG (17) Business Meeting

Session Type: Business Meeting

Abstract

Adopting Complexity-informed Mixed Methods Practices in our Educational Research

Presented by Cheryl Poth with Emma Bullock serving as discussion moderator

This interactive talk offers practical examples of how complexity-informed mixed methods research practices can guide researchers in managing the uncertain nature and unknowable solutions typical of complex educational research problems. Following a brief introduction of the key challenges educational researchers encounter when studying complex and dynamic systems, I draw upon real-world examples to illustrate how educational research can be designed to generate novel insights inaccessible by either qualitative or quantitative research alone. I will conclude with a look to the future with some predictions of practice advances that might better prepare us for embracing complexity in our educational research.

Cheryl Poth, Ph.D. is a Professor and faculty member in the Centre for Research and Applied Measurement and Evaluation in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. She is an associate editor of the Journal of Mixed Methods Research and fourth president of the Mixed Methods International Research Association. She is the author of Innovation in Mixed Methods Research: Guiding Practices for Integrative Thinking with Complexity (2018, Sage), Research Ethics (2021, Sage), editor of the SAGE Handbook of Mixed Methods Research Design (2023, Sage), and co-author of the 4th edition of Qualitative Inquiry & Research Design (2017, Sage) with John Creswell. Together with Dr. Emma Bullock, she recently contributed the chapter “Mixed methods research design practices to address complexity in education” to the fourth edition of the International Encyclopedia of Education (2022, Elsevier).

Sub Unit

• SIG- Complexity Theories in Education

Chair

• Joanna K. Garner, The Center for Educational Partnerships

Speaker

• Cheryl-Anne Nadine Poth, University of Alberta