Course description
Employing multiple methods within a single research project may increase the scope or improve the quality of knowledge gained, increase the validity of findings, secure the optimal research design, augment the explorative process and offer a number of other kinds of 'added value' of mixed methods research. In order to do so, there is however, a number of issues that must be addressed: How should you combine or integrate data in analysis and interpretation? Which design will combine methods in a way that best fits the research question? How do you best align epistemology, theory and empirical research in a mixed methods study? And, perhaps most importantly: what do you actually do in practice? When embarking on a project, mixed methods research may seem both a promising and terrifying path to follow. Promising, because the use of different methodological approaches may give different and more encompassing answers to the research question than single methods research. Terrifying, because mixed methods research pushes most researchers out of their comfort zone in terms of methodology and technical competencies. This course aims to address the latter challenges and help participants to overcome them in order to make the most of the benefits of mixed methods research. The course focuses in particular on integration at different stages of the research process since this part is often the most difficult part and one that is not well elaborated in the literature. In addition, integration is at the core of mixed methods research since this is where multiple methods play together and add value to the research project.

Aim
The course introduces the participants to different approaches to mixed methods research (MMR) within pedagogy and education and aims to enable the participants to plan and conduct high quality MMR. Specifically, the course combines lectures on philosophy of science, research design, quality of inference, using theory in mixed methods research and integration in mixed methods research. The course explicitly emphasizes on the operational and instrumental process of doing MMR, thus focusing on how mixed methods can be applied in practice.

Target group/participants
The course is open for everybody working with mixed methods projects and research, but is particularly relevant for PhD students with dissertations including mixed methods approaches. The aim of including researchers at various stages of the (academic) career is to facilitate knowledge sharing and potential prospective collaboration across different institutions and experience level.

Form
The mornings will be organized as lectures introducing mixed methods research in general, while the afternoons will be devoted to practical work such as small group activities with the purpose of developing ideas and research designs for mixed methods projects and participant presentations. Presenting is not mandatory for participation, but we strongly encourage participants to sign up with a presentation since this is a good opportunity to get qualified and specific feedback on their work. A presentation can include anything from an abstract to an idea for a research application or a paper draft. If participants sign up without a presentation, they should be prepared to be an opponent on someone elses's presentation.

Lecturer: Morten Frederiksen, AAU

Dates: 18 & 19 May 2020, 10.00-16.00 CET. Breakfast and registration 9.30-10.00

ECTS points granted for Ph.D-students:  1 ECTS point will be granted by the PhD School of Aarhus University for each day of participation.  1 ECTS point will be granted for a presentation

Language: The entire course will be held in English if requested by non-Danish participants.

Deadline for registration: 15 April 2020

Price for non PhD students: 600 DKK including meals

PhD students: Free (documentation required)

Register here