Mixed Methods Research: Exploring the Interactive Continuum

In Mixed Methods Research: Exploring the Interactive Continuum, the second edition of Qualitative-Quantitative Research Methodology, authors Carolyn S. Ridenour and Isadore Newman reject the artificial dichotomy between qualitative and quantitative research strategies in the social and behavioral sciences and argue that by employing multiple methods, researchers can enhance the quality of their research outcomes.

The authors base their original model for research-the "interactive continuum"-on the idea that qualitative and quantitative approaches are neither mutually exclusive nor interchangeable; rather, the actual relationship between the two paradigms is one of isolated events on a continuum of scientific inquiry. Ridenour and Newman integrate the quantitative research standards of internal and external validity and the qualitative research standards of trustworthiness to create a set of principles for mixed methods research.

About the Author:
Carolyn S. Ridenour is a professor of educational leadership at the University of Dayton

About the Author:
Isadore Newman, a licensed psychologist, is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of Akron College of Education and Visiting Director of Research and Graduate Studies at Florida International University, College of Education