Mixed methods in community psychology: A values-forward synthesis. Am J Community Psychol 2023 Dec;72(3-4):355-365
Date
10/03/2023Pubmed ID
37786971Pubmed Central ID
PMC10843471DOI
10.1002/ajcp.12703Scopus ID
2-s2.0-85173462615 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 1 CitationAbstract
Mixed methods research (MMR) combines multiple traditions, methods, and worldviews to enrich research design and interpretation of data. In this virtual special issue, we highlight the use of MMR within the field of community psychology. The first MMR studies appeared in flagship community psychology journals over 30 years ago (in 1991). To explore the uses of MMR in the field, we first review existing literature by identifying all papers appearing in either Journal of Community Psychology or American Journal of Community Psychology in which the word "mixed" appeared. A total of 88 publications were identified. Many of these papers illustrate the pragmatic use of MMR to evaluate programs and to answer different research questions using different methods. We coded articles based on Green et al.'s classifications of the purpose of the mixing: triangulation, development, complementarity, expansion, and initiation. Complementarity was the most frequently used purpose (46.6% of articles), and nearly a quarter of articles mixed for multiple purposes (23.86%). We also coded for any community psychology values advanced by the use of mixed methods. We outline three themes here with corresponding exemplars. These articles illustrate how MMR can highlight ecological analysis and reconsider dominant, individual-level paradigms; center participant and community member experiences; and unpack paradoxes to increase the usefulness of research findings.
Author List
Javdani S, Larsen SE, Allen NE, Blackburn AM, Griffin B, Rieger AAuthor
Sadie E. Larsen PhD Associate Professor in the Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine department at Medical College of WisconsinMESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
HumansPsychology
Research Design