Mixed methods in community psychology: A values‐forward synthesis

Abstract

Mixed methods research (MMR) combines multiple traditions, methods, and worldviews to enrich research design and interpretation of data. In this virtual special issue, we highlight the use of MMR within the field of community psychology. The first MMR studies appeared in flagship community psychology journals over 30 years ago (in 1991). To explore the uses of MMR in the field, we first review existing literature by identifying all papers appearing in either Journal of Community Psychology or American Journal of Community Psychology in which the word “mixed” appeared. A total of 88 publications were identified. Many of these papers illustrate the pragmatic use of MMR to evaluate programs and to answer different research questions using different methods. We coded articles based on Green et al.'s classifications of the purpose of the mixing: triangulation, development, complementarity, expansion, and initiation. Complementarity was the most frequently used purpose (46.6% of articles), and nearly a quarter of articles mixed for multiple purposes (23.86%). We also coded for any community psychology values advanced by the use of mixed methods. We outline three themes here with corresponding exemplars. These articles illustrate how MMR can highlight ecological analysis and reconsider dominant, individual‐level paradigms; center participant and community member experiences; and unpack paradoxes to increase the usefulness of research findings.

Looking back, moving forward: 50 years of the American Journal of Community Psychology

“…In their commentary, they demonstrate how the rich use of multiple methods aligns with community psychology's values by promoting multiple research paradigms and promoting community voices. They propose further opportunities to expand the deliberate use of multiple methods in community psychology by applying and exploring Greene's taxonomy of mixed methods (Greene, 2007;Javdani et al, 2023;Tebes, 2005). Lawlor and Metta curated a set of articles that demonstrate the unique contributions that systems science has made to community psychologist's study of context.…”