Mixed Methods Research as Third Methodological Movement:Theoretical Foundations and Practical Procedures

Mixed Method Research is considered as the latest methodological orientation in social and behavioral sciences and sociology which has been developed following a long period of intra-paradigm controversies between quantitative and qualitative approaches. Based on pragmatist perspective, the mixed method research, while emphasizing on paradigm convergence, seeks to combine both quantitative and qualitative methodologies in a single study which takes three forms containing of concurrent, sequential, and transformative designs. Historically tracing back to 1960s, the mixed method research methodology has formally introduced in last decade, then, it has followed and expanded over recent years. This emergent strategy has particular literature, principles, stages and designs quite different from the conventional qualitative and quantitative designs. In this Paper, it has been tried to overview the historical emergence of mixed method research and its definitions. Then, while introducing the deductive and inductive types of mixed method designs, six types of mixed method research including of Concurrent-Triangulation, Concurrent-Nested, Concurrent-Transformative, Sequential-Explanatory, Sequential-Exploratory and Sequential-Transformative designs and their practical procedures have been discussed. Besides, some aspects of mixed method research proposal including of: Goals, Questions and Hypothesis in mixed method design, the place of theory, the mixed method data collection and analysis strategies, the practical stages of conducting and writing mixed methods research reports, and the strategies of validation and evaluation mixed method designs have been explored.