Publications

As integration in mixed methods studies is of great interest, we reviewed published articles between 2007 and 2019 in two major journals of mixed methods research to identify the integration challenges mixed methods researchers experienced. This study contributes to mixed methods by summarizing the reported challenges in empirical mixed methods articles based on the concept of integration. We found mixed methods users’ experienced uncertainty during integration due to lack of guidance and confidence. We advocate that researchers should be proactive in expounding methodological challenges that they confronted in practice and report what they did, how they did it, and why they did it in such ways to approach full integration. By doing this, researchers would make valuable contributions to this methodology’s development.

Mixed methods research (MMR) has been adopted in a variety of disciplines, including health science, social studies, psychology, early childhood, and business. More recently, higher education researchers adopted this methodology, but with limited evaluation on the quality of published mixed methods research. To enhance researchers’ understanding of using MMR, we developed a 4-dimension codebook and reviewed 14 recently published mixed methods research articles that were published in 3 top journals in higher education. We found that researchers used 3 effective strategies to approach integration: (a) using a mixed methods research question to guide the mixed methods (MM) design, (b) using effective mixed methods sampling strategies to collect different types of data for the purpose of integration, and (c) using mixing techniques to interpret results for optimal maximum integration. Apart from the 3 effective integration strategies, a few insufficiencies have been singled out: (a) infrequent use of MM terminologies in the article title, (b) limited familiarity with MM data mixing strategies, and (c) non-optimal reporting of MM results. At the end, we synthesized the useful integration strategies and developed a checklist for higher education researchers to design high-quality mixed methods research studies.

Using mixed methods to develop new scales is not a new idea since the 2000s. However, there exists inadequate literature that discusses scale development using mixed methods, with steps including how to design the study, how to implement the process, and how to conduct validation. This study proposes a hands-on model of using mixed methods to develop new scales and using multiple approaches to conduct validation analysis. The proposed model consists of five steps that highlight both mixed methods’ integration techniques and psychometric methods. The model of scale development and validation analysis is practical and useful for researchers who desire to develop a reliable scale.

Vast volumes of data, coded through hierarchical terminologies (e.g., International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision–Clinical Modification [ICD10-CM], Medical Subject Headings [MeSH]), are generated routinely in electronic health record systems and medical literature databases. Although graphic representations can help to augment human understanding of such data sets, a graph with hundreds or thousands of nodes challenges human comprehension. To improve comprehension, new tools are needed to extract the overviews of such data sets. We aim to develop a visual interactive analytic tool for filtering and summarizing large health data sets coded with hierarchical terminologies (VIADS) as an online and publicly accessible tool. The ultimate goals are to filter, summarize the health data sets, extract insights, compare and highlight the differences between various health data sets by using VIADS. The results generated from VIADS can be utilized as data-driven evidence to facilitate clinicians, clinical researchers, and healthcare administrators to make more informed clinical, research, and administrative decisions. We utilized the following tools and the development environments to develop VIADS: Django, Python, JavaScript, Vis.js, Graph.js, JQuery, Plotly, Chart.js, Unittest, R, and MySQL.

Despite the growing number of international professional development programs, there is very little published research regarding the structures and effectiveness of these programs. This paper shares the design and development of the technology component of an international professional development (PD) program designed for secondary English as Foreign Language (EFL) teachers. Using a one-group, pre- and post-program design, the study examined how the technology component influenced participating teachers' technology knowledge and skills, and their attitudes and beliefs toward technology integration. The analysis of survey quantitative data indicated that participants' knowledge of, and skills using, various technologies were significantly increased by completing the program, whereas their attitudes and beliefs toward technology remained unchanged. Qualitative interview results revealed the types of barriers to technology integration. Implications and significance of the study were discussed.

In this study, we explore East Asian graduate students’ socio-cultural and psychological adjustment in a U.S. Midwestern University. Eight participants were interviewed about their acculturation challenges as well as their effective coping strategies. Data were analyzed using open-coding techniques and five themes emerged: three themes summarized the challenges, including challenges due to cultural differences, lack of support in a foreign environment, and financial stress; and the other two themes that described the coping strategies were utilizing external resources and developing self-adjustment strategies.

A solid understanding of statistics and research methods is essential for all graduate students in education, social sciences, and psychology. However, effective teaching in statistics and research methods is challenging because students are less likely to enjoy these courses.  The author of this paper argued that blended teaching should work as an alternative to traditional face-to-face teaching, including (1) conceptual lectures in class and hands-on activities out of class, (2) lab work online by group with peer support, (3) project-based course design.  At the end of this paper, instructor’s self-reflection and students’ feedback on blended teaching were reported. This paper is of interest to both faculty and students who are teaching and learning statistics.

Since the 1980s when mixed methods emerged as “the third research methodology”, it was widely adopted in Western countries. However, inadequate literature revealed how this methodology was accepted by scholars in Asian countries, such as China. Therefore, this paper used a quantitative survey to investigate Chinese scholars’ perceptions and adoption of mixed methods in China.

The data of the study were obtained from 247 Chinese scholars in higher education. Structural equation modelling was used to examine the relationship between participants’ perceptions and use of mixed methods. The results revealed that Chinese scholars’ research expertise of using quantitative and qualitative methods as well as their perceived advantage of using mixed methods has significantly influenced their adoption of mixed methods. This paper advanced the literature of the evolution of mixed methods by investigating the expansion and adaptability of mixed methods in an Asian context.

In the past two decades, there has been an increase in the number of studies that have examined the psychological effects on counselors who provide counseling to clients with trauma experiences. However, little is known about the experiences of counselor trainees who provide counseling to their clients seeking counseling because of trauma. This qualitative study explored the experience of eight doctoral students in a counseling program who completed their master’s-level training in the United States. Three themes emerged from the inductive data analysis process, namely: (1) immediate reactions, (2) information processing, and (3) post-exposure development. Implications for counselors, counselor educators, and clinical supervisors are examined and recommendations to enhance counseling and supervision services are offered.

The spillover hypothesis suggests that childhood aggression results from spillover of interparental conflict to poor parenting, which promotes aggressive child behavior. This study was designed to examine the spillover hypothesis in non–genetically related parent–child dyads from the toddler period through age 6 years.