PhD Courses in Denmark

Course description

• Employing mixed methods within a single research project may increase the scope or improve the quality of knowledge gained, increase the validity of findings, secure the optimal research design, augment the explorative process or contribute with other values to the research study. However, to do so, several issues need to be addressed: Which design will combine methods in a way that best fits the research question? How should data in analysis and interpretation be combined or integrated? How do you best align epistemology, theory, and empirical research in a mixed methods study? And what do you do in practice? When embarking on a project, mixed methods research may seem both a promising and challenging path to follow. Promising, because the use of different methodological approaches may give more encompassing answers to the research question than single methods research. Challenging, because mixed methods research pushes most researchers out of their comfort zone regarding methodology and technical competencies.
• This course aims to address the latter challenges and help participants overcome them to make the most of the benefits of mixed methods research. The course focuses on integration at different stages of the research process. Integration is at the core of mixed methods research since this is where multiple methods play together and add value to the research project.
• Since many PhD students within pedagogical and educational research find the quantitative part particularly challenging, part of the course focuses specifically on designing and conducting quantitative questionnaires as part of a mixed methods research study.

Aim

• The course introduces the participants to different approaches to mixed methods research (MMR) within pedagogy and education and aims to enable the participants to plan and conduct high quality MMR.
• Specifically, the course includes lectures on theory in mixed methods research with a strong emphasis on integration.
• The course will initially focus on how the selection of methods can ensure that the methods mutually support each other in answering the research question.
• Furthermore, the course focuses on the operational process of doing MMR, thus focusing on how mixed methods can be applied in practice.
• Part of the course emphasizes the development and integration of questionnaires as a research method when designing and conducting MMR.

Form

• The course takes place over two coherent days. Based on course literature, discussions and exercises, the participants will make individual presentations of their PhD-project using a mixed methods approach. Before the course, participants hand in a 3-page outline of the proposal for which feedback will be provided.
• The mornings will be organized as lectures introducing to mixed methods research and quantitative questionnaires in general, while the afternoons will be devoted to practical work such as small group activities with the purpose of developing ideas or describe research designs for mixed methods projects as well as participant presentations on the mixed methods approach in the participants' PhD study with feedback. Participants should be prepared to be opponents in another presentation.
• Presenting is not mandatory for participation, but we strongly encourage participants to sign up for a presentation since this is a good opportunity to get qualified and specific feedback on ideas and work.

Target group/Participants

• The course is open for PhD students at all stages using (or considering using) a mixed methods approach in dissertations within educational and/or pedagogical research (i.e. school research).
• The course is organized so PhD students with any level of experience designing and conducting mixed methods research - including none - can participate.
• The course does not require any in-depth knowledge about quantitative or qualitative paradigms and will not deal with the details of specific qualitative methods.

Language 

• Danish

ECTS-credits

• 2

Lecturers

• Mikkel Stovgaard

• Niels Bonderup Dohn

• Jacob Christensen