Teaching Mixed Methods and Communicating Research Results (June 4, 2021)
Mixed Methods and Multimethod Social Research – An Interdisciplinary Network on the Methodology and Applications of Integrative Research Methods
The 6th Network conference took place on June 4th 2021 and was dedicated to the topic of “Teaching Mixed Methods and Multimethod Research and Communicating Research Results”. Due to ongoing Covid19-restrictions the event was held in an online format, hosted at Helmut Schmidt University Hamburg. International guest experts Tony Onwuegbuzie (University of Cambridge) and Jennifer Greene (University of Illinois) were invited as keynote speakers. However, due to technical difficulties Jennifer Greene’s talk unfortunately had to be cancelled last minute.
In his keynote lecture Tony Onwuegbuzie presented “An Evidence-Based Perspective on Teaching Mixed Methods”, which incorporated a wide range of his empirical research on MMMR-education as well as personal insights from his extensive teaching experience.
The following session featured a roundtable discussion on “Teaching Mixed Methods”, including Margrit Schreier (Jacobs University Bremen), Jörg Stolz (University of Lausanne), and Sebastian Zimmer (Europa-Universität Flensburg) as podium speakers. Their input presentations featured a broad array of practical concepts for teaching MMMR, from mindfulness-based approaches for teaching qualitative methods and method integration (Schreier), through an introductory course-program designed around a mixed data set on the sinking of the “titanic” (Stolz), to the coordination of multiple undergraduate methods courses into a joint student MMMR research project (Zimmer). Among the core issues emerging in the following discussion were the importance of practical, hands-on work with actual data and analysis methods, as well as the significance of engaging substantive research topics that are likely to catch students’ attention and curiosity. Furthermore, the current need for more readily available mixed data sets for teaching and secondary analysis purposes was discussed, as well as possible avenues for establishing a repository of MMMR teaching resources online (data, course programs, learning materials).
The final conference session was dedicated to current and future activities and projects originating from the network project. This included the joint discussion of a manuscript for a short project report to be submitted to the journal of the German Sociological Association this summer. Also, the future development of the Working Group “Mixed Methods” within the German Sociological Association was discussed, including an intensified exchange and possible areas of cooperation with other European MMMR-communities and network initiatives (such as the European chapter of the Mixed Methods Internationale Research Association). In addition to that, the current development of the text book series on “integrative social research methods” edited by Andrea Hense, Susanne Vogl, and Felix Knappertsbusch (with Springer VS) was covered.
Prior to the 6th network meeting, June 3rd saw a meeting of 20 Authors working on the special issue „Mixed Methods and Multimethod Social Research – Current Applications and Future Directions“, which is scheduled to appear in Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung / Forum: Qualitative Social Research by the end of 2022.
Letzte Änderung: 6. July 2021