Mixed Methods Quotes

“The Matrix is a system, Neo. That system is our enemy. But when you're inside, you look around, what do you see? Businessmen, teachers, lawyers, carpenters. The very minds of the people we are trying to save. But until we do, these people are still a part of that system and that makes them our enemy. You have to understand, most of these people are not ready to be unplugged. And many of them are so inured, so hopelessly dependent on the system, that they will fight to protect it. The Matrix, 1999”
― Sam Ladner, Mixed Methods: A short guide to applied mixed methods research

“I often tell people to tamp down their excitement about data exhaust because none of these data are actually designed for falsifiability in mind—it’s simply the detritus of our digital lives. Just because we have more data doesn’t mean we are doing better research. We are drowning in an endless sea of data, yet we are stuck in an insight desert”
― Sam Ladner, Mixed Methods: A short guide to applied mixed methods research

“Having such dry-run experiences will prepare your stakeholders for the reactions they might have,”
― Sam Ladner, Mixed Methods: A short guide to applied mixed methods research

“to place each finding along a spectrum of “useful” to “not useful.” They can also discuss how each finding might make them feel, or what implications it might have.”
― Sam Ladner, Mixed Methods: A short guide to applied mixed methods research

“Build this social infrastructure by managing stakeholder expectations.”
― Sam Ladner, Mixed Methods: A short guide to applied mixed methods research

“being wrong is not grounds for dismissal, but the natural outcome of trying new things.”
― Sam Ladner, Mixed Methods: A short guide to applied mixed methods research

“VUCA organizations move quickly, and often must make decisions with incomplete information.”
― Sam Ladner, Mixed Methods: A short guide to applied mixed methods research

“Social Infrastructure: Preparing Teams for Mixed Methods”
― Sam Ladner, Mixed Methods: A short guide to applied mixed methods research

“quantitative research will measure pervasiveness of things we already know, and qualitative research will uncover things we don’t know much about.”
― Sam Ladner, Mixed Methods: A short guide to applied mixed methods research

“less satisfied with work than women. In the end, the data tell you the general, explanatory patterns of gendered experience at work.”
― Sam Ladner, Mixed Methods: A short guide to applied mixed methods research

“You can see how this inductive approach is squarely focused on the participants themselves. In your inductive study,”
― Sam Ladner, Mixed Methods: A short guide to applied mixed methods research

“the ideal inductive approach, you will not have any prior beliefs about gender and its effects. In Strauss and Corbin’s famous description, “The researcher begins with an area of study and allows the theory to emerge from the data”
― Sam Ladner, Mixed Methods: A short guide to applied mixed methods research

“so therefore it is true. By contrast, an inductive study will start with very open-ended questions like, “What is going on in our organization? How are employees feeling? What are their concerns, if any?” Such a study seeks to understand, “What is important?”
― Sam Ladner, Mixed Methods: A short guide to applied mixed methods research

“Help your stakeholders sharpen their deductive questions into falsifiable statements, which can then be proven true or false.”
― Sam Ladner, Mixed Methods: A short guide to applied mixed methods research

“They honestly may not know that deductive reasoning will result in narrow results, or that inductive reasoning will yield durable insights, useful beyond a”
― Sam Ladner, Mixed Methods: A short guide to applied mixed methods research

“Research leaders should help stakeholders understand the nature of asking deductive or inductive questions, the trade-offs each represent, and some strategies to mitigate any shortcomings of choosing one approach over the other.”
― Sam Ladner, Mixed Methods: A short guide to applied mixed methods research

“Framing Your Approach: Inductive or Deductive Frame?”
― Sam Ladner, Mixed Methods: A short guide to applied mixed methods research

“estimate how long it might take to answer each question, and it will quickly become clear how much of a backlog of work”
― Sam Ladner, Mixed Methods: A short guide to applied mixed methods research

“uncovered 116 unanswered research questions and made sure everyone knew how long that list was.”
― Sam Ladner, Mixed Methods: A short guide to applied mixed methods research

“Your stakeholders may be accustomed to issuing orders to research teams and may occasionally enjoy upbraiding them for not following them. Setting aside time for stakeholder needs disrupts this pattern and instead sets the tone as one of listening and responding as a consulting expert.”
― Sam Ladner, Mixed Methods: A short guide to applied mixed methods research

“Shared beliefs and the artifacts that symbolize them are a key component to effective collaboration.”
― Sam Ladner, Mixed Methods: A short guide to applied mixed methods research

“continually draw stakeholders’ attention back to that shared understanding by using the artifact as a touchstone. As”
― Sam Ladner, Mixed Methods: A short guide to applied mixed methods research

“Project Kick-off and Framing”
― Sam Ladner, Mixed Methods: A short guide to applied mixed methods research

“Figure 5: Cresswell and Plano Clark’s 3-type Model of How to Mix Qual and Quant Data”
― Sam Ladner, Mixed Methods: A short guide to applied mixed methods research

“In his summary of mixed methods, Bryman (2006) outlines five methodological reasons for mixing methods:  1. Complementarity: deepen or enhance other data 2. Expansion: expanding the inquiry to ask different questions 3. Development: use one method to inform and improve the other 4. Triangulation: corroboration of earlier data 5. Initiation: resolving earlier contradictory findings”
― Sam Ladner, Mixed Methods: A short guide to applied mixed methods research

“The typical practical reasons why you might choose to mix methods include: 1. Time does not permit in-depth qualitative research 2. Time does not permit in-depth quantitative research 3. Negotiating access to participants is challenging 4. Finding a large data set is challenging”
― Sam Ladner, Mixed Methods: A short guide to applied mixed methods research

“But at the very least, give them more than boring charts, graphs and numbers. Introduce some character and plot and attempt to paint a holistic picture.”
― Sam Ladner, Mixed Methods: A short guide to applied mixed methods research

“qual and quant researchers provide all the benefits of their primary approach, plus some of the benefits of their secondary approach, stakeholders will become sophisticated customers of research, and the entire organization will become more attuned to both the objectivist”
― Sam Ladner, Mixed Methods: A short guide to applied mixed methods research

“explanatory concepts that can later be tested quantitatively”
― Sam Ladner, Mixed Methods: A short guide to applied mixed methods research

“Hammersley (2014) suggests that qualitative researchers aim to describe causation in one of two ways: 1. Create plausible models of causation using imaginative tools like metaphors literary devices, and thought experiments to explain how a thing might work in many different contexts, in abstract language 2. Conduct a deep analysis of observed, empirical data to generate”
― Sam Ladner, Mixed Methods: A short guide to applied mixed methods research