Simultaneous and Sequential Qualitative Mixed Method Designs

Mixed methods, defined as one complete method (as the core project) plus a different simultaneous and sequential supplemental strategy, have been well explicated for combining the most difficult designs—that is, qualitative and quantitative methods. However, experts in qualitative inquiry have relatively ignored the issues that occur while describing qualitative simultaneous and sequential designs in which both components are qualitative. In this article, the author argues that qualitative mixed method designs introduce many of the incompatibility problems of mixed method design that use qualitative and quantitative components. Various qualitatively driven mixed method designs are presented. Then, using an armchair walkthrough, QUAL-qual designs are contextualized within a hypothetical project of breaking bad news, and several examples of QUAL-qual mixed method designs are discussed.