Table 3.
Common design types used in mixed-methods research.
| Designsa | Objectives | |
| Concurrent | This design aims to compare and contrast the results of both quantitative and qualitative findings, or to validate or expand quantitative results with qualitative data. This design is also labeled as parallel or convergent design. The researchers use different methods complementarily to investigate the same topic. | |
| Sequential | ||
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Exploratory | If a study has one dataset built on the results from the other, it is classified as a sequential design. It is a 2-phase mixed-methods design that collects only one type of data at a time. This design aims to explore first by placing a qualitative phase before a quantitative phase, and the data from the first phase are used to develop the second phase. |
| Explanatory | This design aims to clarify or interpret unexpected or confusing results from the quantitative phase with a follow-up qualitative phase. It can also be used to form groups based on quantitative results and monitor the groups through follow-up qualitative research. | |
| Embedded | This includes the combination of both quantitative and qualitative data, but one data type has a supportive, secondary role within the overall design. One type of data is embedded within a methodology adapted by the other data type. It can be either a 1- or a 2-phase study. Unlike the conventional mixed-methods researchers, who think both methods should answer the same question in the research, some researchers have different questions requiring different types of data. Some complex interventions and experimental studies need embedded designs because this design is more manageable in terms of time and resources. | |
| Multiphase | This design includes multiple qualitative, quantitative, or mixed measurement phases conducted over time and linked together so that one phase builds on another with a common overall objective. They usually include convergent and sequential elements. |