The State of Mixed Methods Research in Public Administration and Public Policy

Abstract

Qian (Eric) Luo is a PhD candidate in public policy and public administration and research associate in the Department of Health Policy and Management, George Washington University. His research focuses on community health centers, the health workforce, social determinants of health, hospital and insurance market competition, cost-effectiveness analysis, and mixed methods.Abstract: Public administration scholars have publicized the benefits of mixed methods research and exhorted researchers to embrace mixed methods research design. Despite increasing calls for and numbers of mixed methods publications, thus far there has been no rigorous assessment of the value added by mixed methods research designs. This article provides an assessment of mixed methods articles published in leading public administration and public policy journals. The authors assess methodological quality, study purpose, and research design in order to determine the added value of mixed methods research designs. Findings highlight the promise of mixed methods research in public administration and public policy. Realizing this promise will require better appreciation of the added benefits of mixed methods designs, dedicated effort to improve the qualitative component of mixed methods studies, and greater attention to integrating the qualitative and quantitative components of mixed methods studies. Evidence for Practice• Increased use of mixed methods research can help us better understand and address complex public administration and public policy issues. • To derive the full benefits of mixed methods research, researchers need to improve the quality of qualitative strands of mixed methods research studies and communicate methodological information in greater detail. • To advance the use and value of mixed methods research, researchers and practitioners need to question the assumptions, interpretations, and limitations of dominant quantitative methodologies.

The role(s) of accounting and performance measurement systems in contemporary public administration

“…The above developments go hand in hand with progress in quantitative approaches, including the behavioural turn in public administration studies (James and Moseley 2014;Baekgaard and Serritzlew 2016;Grimmelikhuijsen et al 2017) and provide the basis for strengthening mixed methods approaches, which have been championed in public administration research (e.g., Hendren et al 2018).…”

A typology of systematic reviews for synthesising evidence on health care

“…Greenhalgh and Peacock, for instance, found that about half the useful evidence from complex reviews of heterogeneous studies emerged from reference‐tracking, a third from electronic and hand searches, and a quarter from the personal knowledge or other contacts of the reviewers. Synthesis‐matrices and logic models offer graphical methods for developing and displaying concepts underlying complex searches, although again poor indexing impedes searches for qualitative evidence . The “Sample, Phenomenon of Interest, Design, Evaluation, and Research” (SPIDER) and the “Perspective, Setting, Phenomenon, Environment, comparators, Timing and Frame or place” (PerSPEcTiF) are both guides for minimising irrelevant literature in complex searches, but at the cost of overlooking some useful evidence …”

“…Like qualitative synthesis, there is no consensus on how to appraise realist reviews beyond the subjective judgements of experts . The “Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool” (MMAT) is for experts in each component of the mix to appraise the research designs of the primary studies and the syntheses of evidence from them . It is a checklist for judging the systematic methods rather than the credibility or practicality of the evidence synthesised.…”

“…38,56,60,64,68 Consequently, the realist review seeks, interprets and appraises the vast social and personal environments in which disease and therapeutic interventions occur. 64,69,70 Mixed methods research, as an example, generates ideas and tests hypotheses or propositions with the strength of both qualitative and quantitative methods, 71 and has been used to translate knowledge from clinical trials to other environmental contexts. 72…”

“…Synthesis-matrices and logic models offer graphical methods for developing and displaying concepts underlying complex searches, 53,82,84,93 although again poor indexing impedes searches for qualitative evidence. 71,72,81 The "Sample, Phenomenon of Interest, Design, Evaluation, and Research" (SPIDER) 85…”