Understanding School-Based Consultation as Engineering Using a Mix of Methods

A call for increasing the use of mixed methods research in school psychology: Introduction to the special issue.

“…Despite the established tradition of mixing methods in social and behavioral research, mixed methods are infrequently employed in school psychology (at least in journal articles) despite its capacity to solve urgent problems and enrich science and practice (Nastasi et al, 2022; Truscott et al, 2022). Fifteen years ago, Leech and Onwuegbuzie (2008) argued that mixed method and qualitative studies remained underutilized in our field, and it appears that very limited progress has been made.…”

“…Powell et al (2008), for example, examined empirical studies published in four school psychology journals between 2001 and 2005 and found that only 13.7% of the studies represented mixed methods research (60 of the 438 identified). Fast forward to 2022, where Truscott et al (2022), in a special issue focused on employing mixed and qualitative methods in school consultation research, searched four school psychology journals that publish consultation research between 2009 and 2019. Seventy-five articles met criteria for consultation-related research while only three used mixed methods (Truscott et al, 2022).…”

“…Fast forward to 2022, where Truscott et al (2022), in a special issue focused on employing mixed and qualitative methods in school consultation research, searched four school psychology journals that publish consultation research between 2009 and 2019. Seventy-five articles met criteria for consultation-related research while only three used mixed methods (Truscott et al, 2022). Furthermore, a systematic review of prevalence, characteristics, and trends in mixed methods publishing in school psychology (Wang et al, in press) found that from 2011 to 2020, only 2% of the articles published in six well-known school psychology journals used mixed methods.…”

Commentary: Promise and unrealized potential of mixed methods research in school psychology.

“…Accordingly, this special issue presents quality MMR as not simply a research technology, but as a philosophical shift to achieve synergistic conclusions resulting in understanding that is greater than the sum of the parts (Nastasi et al, 2022). To achieve this goal, MMR research requires asking different kinds of questions that are informed by a deep understanding of applied contexts (Truscott et al, 2022). Lambert et al provided an example of this kind of deeper questioning by enlisting its participants to help define the key constructs and make inferences about the results, which required a bidirectional researcher-participant interaction rather than other means of quantitative scale development.…”

“…The gap between MMR's potential benefits and its actual application in school psychology research is vexing because there are natural parallels between MMR as a research approach and the practice of school psychology in complex school settings (Truscott et al, 2022). In fact, school psychologists are expected to apply MMR reasoning in everyday practice.…”