story by Claire Miller
More than a decade ago, College of Education & Human Development Professor David Houchins worked on a project with Associate Dean Kris Varjas that included mixed methods research, which combines the best of quantitative and qualitative research methods.
From this project, he gained a deeper appreciation for mixed methods research and learned from internationally recognized mixed methods researchers.
Though mixed methods research has not been frequently used in special education, Houchins’ field of study, that’s beginning to change.
“When I served as president of the Council for Exceptional Children, Division for Research, the Institute of Education Sciences sought feedback from our organization on how to improve grant-funded special education research in the United States. We compiled feedback from almost 80 leading special education researchers,” he explained. “One of the needs identified was a greater use of mixed methods special education research to answer some of the issues in the field.”
Houchins recently served as a guest editor of Behavior Disorders, an academic journal that publishes research on individuals with behavioral challenges. He and fellow guest editors Maureen Conroy and John Hitchcock wanted to create a special issue focused on the benefits of incorporating mixed methods research. The resulting issue demonstrates how both qualitative and quantitative measures can give special education researchers more insight than using one method alone.
“We wanted to provide the field with information on how to enhance intervention research for students with emotional and behavioral disabilities and the editors of Behavior Disorders graciously agreed,” he said. “Jeffrey Anderson explains in the introduction that qualitative research typically addresses questions of ‘why’ and ‘how’ an intervention works while quantitative research answers questions of whether the intervention worked. The combination of the two can be more impactful and meaningful.”
Houchins co-authored three articles in the special issue, one of which outlines 17 areas where mixed methods can be used when studying interventions that address children’s emotional and behavioral health needs.
He hopes that the special issue encourages researchers and practitioners to implement more mixed methods research in their work, which can lead to more effective interventions for the children at the heart of their research.
“It is because of the kindness, intellect and wisdom of the authors in the special issue and so many others that I know just a bit more about mixed methods research,” Houchins said. “Consider mixed methods research as one means of making a richer and more meaningful impact on the lives of the children and families we serve.”