Mixed Methods in Social Science Research

Catalog description

This course will provide advanced skills to rigorously "mix" quantitative and qualitative methods and analytic techniques using didactic sessions with in-class laboratory sessions to achieve two aims. First, students will be introduced to the application of the approaches, methodological designs, and analytic techniques used in mixed methods research in the social sciences. Second, students will apply "integration," the quintessential component of mixed methods research, through experiential or application-based learning opportunities related to methodological designs and analytic techniques. Students will work with real data in the application of "integration" and develop skills to navigate the complex work of mixing methods. The course will focus on an introduction to: 1) approaches in mixed methods research, 2) the three core mixed methods designs and related analytic techniques, 3) application of "integration" in methods, analysis, and interpretation, and 4) complex mixed methods designs in the social sciences. This course is designed to be flexible to students' learning journeys and does not require the completion of any prior courses in quantitative or qualitative analysis; however, students need to have completed at least one research methods course to be eligible for the class. Prereq: SASS 613 .