Taking Public Action on Private Troubles: The Power of Hybrid Methodology Mixed Methods Research in the Public Sphere

Abstract

Qualitative inquiry is well positioned to aid in public education on crucial social problems. Implementing a dual perspective engages not only quantitative approaches, but centers the critical role of qualitative inquiry in uncovering a multilayered analysis of the diversity and range of lived experience that can also contribute a rich perspective onto the wider quantitatively driven macro inquiry public landscape. The case studies presented provide strategies for harnessing missed opportunities for dialogue between the macro and micro level, demonstrating the importance of applying hybrid methodological and methods perspectives onto social issues that contain both words and numbers.