Strategies of Integration in Mixed Methods Research
探讨混合方法研究中理论整合与实证整合的互补作用,提出五种整合策略(联合、顺序、同步、全周期、单一逻辑),并用管理文献中的例子说明,帮助研究者更好地结合定量与定性方法。
The challenge of integration, namely, the bridging across different intellectual paradigms to combine empirical insights into a coherent and plausible explanation, is endemic to mixed methods research. In this article, we address this challenge in two ways: first, by drawing attention to the role that theoretical integration plays in mixed methods research as a complement to empirical integration and second, by broadening the repertoire of strategies for enhancing the interplay of theoretical and empirical elements in a mixed methods study. We use the technique of relational algorithms, a linguistic exercise designed to produce “novel relations between pairs of things” by experimenting with different words that can connect theory and empirics. We propose that connector words (e.g., along, near, within) can forge linkages between quantitative and qualitative methods that extend the simple coupling implied by and. We advance five strategies of integration, two that are commonly used in management research—conjoined and sequential—and three high-potential but relatively underused strategies—simultaneous, full-cycle, and mono-logic. We illustrate each of these with examples from the management and organizational literature.