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Mixed methods studies.

Article Excerpt
Owens, Jackson, and Berndt (2009) presented an interesting study about an aerobic exercise program for Hispanic women during treatment for breast cancer. The authors used a mixed methods research design, which can add more richness to a study than only one type of data collection. In this study, researchers collected interview data to understand the process of adopting exercise into the women's lifestyle, while quantitative measures were used to collect data on side effects of the breast cancer treatments and physiological outcomes of the exercise program. Mixed methods studies are being conducted more frequently and have important considerations for readers.

What Are Mixed Methods Studies?

In mixed methods research designs, researchers use both quantitative and qualitative methods and data in the same study or series of studies (Creswell & Piano-Clark, 2007). The goal of mixed methods research is to draw on the strengths and minimize the weaknesses of both types of research. This design is based on the pragmatic philosophy that a researcher should use the approach or mixture of approaches best suited to answer the research question (Johnson &...

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