The Technology, Literacy, and Caring project was a longitudinal, intervention evaluation study assessing the degree to which two home-based interventions promoted positive parent--child book-sharing interactions, child development, and infant-toddler emergent literacy skills for low socioeconomic status, Latino families. Data collection for the…

Triangulation is a commonly used term often associated with enhancing the validity of findings from your research study. In this case, we identify both the merits and challenges of drawing on multiple forms of triangulation, particularly when a mixed-methods design is a suitable methodology. We draw on our experiences with a mixed-methods research…

Having made the move from a professional practice role to an educator position, I decided that it would be beneficial to improve my understanding and capability to support student learning in the higher education setting. As such, I made the choice to take up doctoral studies. While working with students and other instructors, the subject of…

The gender achievement gap, where males demonstrate lower performance in academics, is not fully understood. This research was the first of its kind undertaken in St. Vincent and the Grenadines in 2012-2013. I employed a mixed-methods design for this research to reduce issues inherent in the use of each type of method, as well as to gather data…

This ethnographic study explores aspects of bilingual education in two early childhood German-English education centres in Australia. Using various sources of data and multiple methods of analysis, it investigates the processes at work when establishing and implementing a bilingual programme and examines the language attitudes, ideologies and…

This case study provides an account of a semester-long study in an undergraduate sports medicine class; the study was for my PhD dissertation. The aim was to determine whether a peer assessment/feedback training program was effective. I knew that previous research in my field and in education found little quantitative differences for a…

From 2011 to 2013, I accidentally studied US and Canadian teacher perceptions of standardized testing and its effects in the classroom. I had intended to study the role of equity issues in teacher practice; however, in conversation with teachers during initial semi-structured interviews in the United States, it became clear that understanding the…

Designing, developing, and implementing a multi-year randomized control trial targeting what works in gifted education mathematics study is challenging, at best. In response to the United States Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences request for proposal, we carefully constructed a mixed-methods study by assembling a diverse…

This mixed-methods explanatory study focused on analyzing the impact that National School Lunch Program eligibility had on (a) scholastic performance; (b) Appraisal of the Academic Influences Inventory results; and (c) the rates of absenteeism, tardiness, and disciplinary referrals within large groups of American Indian and White students in…

This case study describes the creation process for a mixed methods study from 2009 to 2011, examining for the first time gender differences in how undergraduate students create videos for online platforms such as Facebook and YouTube. I conducted this research for my doctoral dissertation at the University of Pennsylvania's Graduate School of…

From January to May 2012, we pursued a research project analyzing content themes from nurse educators' teaching philosophy statements. This was the first time that teaching philosophies were explored in the field of nursing education. Prior to this study, research on teaching philosophy statements had been limited to content analysis of teaching…

This case study focuses on a mixed-methods participatory project undertaken with young people in Northern Ireland. The project consisted of two main parts: (a) the 2010 Young Life and Times survey of 16-year olds and (b) a participatory follow-up project in which some of the Young Life and Times survey respondents were recruited as peer…

In 2007, I embarked on what turned out to be a 6-year-long PhD study that examined the leadership of teaching and learning through advice and information in school subject teams. Previous research had focused predominantly on formally designated leaders and their interactions with followers in informal contexts. My study focused on both formal and…

Why conduct education research? To answer questions that we have about our students, add to our knowledge of good teaching, and investigate new theories based on observations we have made in our classrooms, schools, or communities. This qualitative research methods case illustrates a study we undertook to better understand how teachers use close…

Dating violence is a major public health concern, with high prevalence on college campuses. Although traditional quantitative methodology has helped researchers understand important risk factors, correlates, and predictors of dating violence and its consequences, mixed-methodological approaches--used in this chapter to refer to both content…