Integration as a Process: Applying Iterative Multiple Correspondence Analysis to Surface Dynamic Findings

Abstract

A defining characteristic of mixed methods research, integration receives considerable attention in the field, yet evidence suggests that the process of integration may be challenging in practice. Crossover analyses, in which methods typically used with one data type are applied to a different data type, can deepen integration. Using an example from the field of education, this article demonstrates the iterative application of multiple correspondence analysis as a crossover analysis through a four-stage integration process. Contributions to the field of mixed methods include (a) the utility and potential of multiple correspondence analysis to surface new dimensions of integrated findings, (b) considerations for rigor in the application of crossover methods, and (c) considerations for making sense of diffractive or dynamic findings.

Developing a mixed-methods digital Multiple Sorting Task procedure using Zoom and Miro

“…The MST procedure, namely data collection, data transformation, and data analysis, iteratively integrates quantitative and qualitative aspects in multiple phases. Its integration strategy can be understood through the explanatory bidirectional framework explained by Kutscher and Howard (2022) based on Moseholm and Fetters’s (2017) work, that “an initial quantitatively framed analysis is followed by a qualitatively framed analysis and then the analyses are merged for interpretation.” In this study, almost all participants, young and older age, completed the digital MST using Zoom and Miro except for a few cases used alternative Email and Smartphone to assist older adults to perform the MST online. The integrated mixed-methods finding of the MSA presents a stable and underlying structure of 20 participants’ conception of the given 20 places.…”

“…However, the facility provided by HUDAP 8 makes it particularly suitable for the present study. MSA's innovative analytic techniques is more similar to iterative correspondence analysis and crossover analysis in which "relationships among transformed qualitative data can be mapped into dimensional space using a quantitative approach" (Bazeley, 2018;Kutscher and Howard, 2022;Onwuegbuzie and Hitchcock, 2015). The participant assigned pictures into groups using pre-defined areas (blue sheets) and gave a descriptor to each group using Miro's "sticky notes.…”

“…The MST procedure, including its digital version tested, distinguishes from those integrating qualitative and quantitative analyses that are carried out consecutively (Kleih et al, 2022). Instead, the MST emphasizes the iterative integration of qualitative and quantitative aspects throughout the analytic process, similar to correspondence analysis (Kutscher and Howard, 2022). Furthermore, the involvement of older age participants in addition to young adults is indeed a strong test, which reveals the potential of the digital MST and its possible variations in terms of the choices of viable digital tools for research participants with lower digital literacy.…”

In This Issue: Transformative and Participatory Methods, Integration Through Multiple Correspondence Analysis, and Network Analysis of Qualitative Data

“…In the third article, Kutscher and Howard (2022) with affiliations in special education have focused on the issue on integration in mixed methods through crossover analysis. Specifically, the authors focused on the iterative application of multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) as a crossover analysis based on a four-stage integration process.…”