Practical Strategies for Combining Qualitative and Quantitative Methods: Applications to Health Research
Abstract
This article describes a series of research designs for combining qualitative and quantitative methods, using a Priority-Sequence Model that relies on the principle of complementarity. First, a decision about the priority of the two methods selects either a qualitative or a quantitative approach to be the principal method. Second, a decision about sequencing determines whether the complementary method will serve as either a preliminary or a follow-up to the principal method. These two decisions yield four basic research designs: (a) preliminary qualitative methods in a quantitative study, (b) preliminary quantitative methods in a qualitative study, (c) follow-up qualitative methods in a quantitative study, and (d) follow-up quantitative methods in a qualitative study. The conclusions consider further research designs and the expertise necessary for multiple-methods research.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
The most frequently used mixed-method designs start with a qualitative pilot study followed by quantitative research.
“The most frequently used mixed-method designs start with a qualitative pilot study followed by quantitative research (Morgan, 1998).”
From Revisiting the Quantitative-Qualitative Debate: Implications for Mixed-Methods Research (2002) · cites this paper as Morgan, 1998
Cites
Convergent and discriminant validation by the multitrait-multimethod matrix.
Campbell, D. T., & Fiske, D. W. (1959) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/h0046016 · Cited by 17,116 · see citing works
Toward a Conceptual Framework for Mixed-Method Evaluation Designs
Greene, J. C., Caracelli, V. J., & Graham, W. F. (1989) · Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis · doi:10.3102/01623737011003255 · Cited by 5,687 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Mixed Methods Research: A Research Paradigm Whose Time Has Come
Johnson, R. B., & Onwuegbuzie, A. J. (2004) · Educational Researcher · doi:10.3102/0013189x033007014 · Cited by 11,170 · see citing works
Toward a definition of mixed methods research
Johnson, R. B., Onwuegbuzie, A. J., & Turner, L. A. (2007) · Journal of Mixed Methods Research · doi:10.1177/1558689806298224 · Cited by 6,464 · see citing works
Integrating quantitative and qualitative research: How is it done
Bryman, A. (2006) · Qualitative Research · doi:10.1177/1468794106058877 · Cited by 3,354 · see citing works
Using Mixed-Methods Sequential Explanatory Design: From Theory to Practice
Ivankova, N. V., Creswell, J. W., & Stick, S. L. (2006) · Field Methods · doi:10.1177/1525822x05282260 · Cited by 3,167 · see citing works
Two Decades of Developments in Qualitative Inquiry: A Personal, Experiential Perspective
Patton, M. Q. (2002) · Qualitative Social Work · doi:10.1177/1473325002001003636 · Cited by 2,564 · see citing works
Three techniques for integrating data in mixed methods studies
O'Cathain, A., Murphy, E., & Nicholl, J. (2010) · BMJ · doi:10.1136/bmj.c4587 · Cited by 1,584 · see citing works
Revisiting the Quantitative-Qualitative Debate: Implications for Mixed-Methods Research
Sale, J. E. M., Lohfeld, L. H., & Brazil, K. (2002) · Quality and Quantity · doi:10.1023/a:1014301607592 · Cited by 1,082 · see citing works
Mixing methods: the entry of qualitative and quantitative approaches into the research process
Brannen, J. (2005) · International Journal of Social Research Methodology · doi:10.1080/13645570500154642 · Cited by 663 · see citing works
Investigator Triangulation: A Collaborative Strategy With Potential for Mixed Methods Research
Archibald, M. M. (2016) · Journal of Mixed Methods Research · doi:10.1177/1558689815570092 · Cited by 355 · see citing works
Moffatt, S., White, M., Mackintosh, J., & Howel, D. (2006) · BMC Health Services Research · doi:10.1186/1472-6963-6-28 · Cited by 239 · see citing works
Utilization of delivery services at the primary health care level in rural Vietnam
Duong, D. V., Binns, C. W., & Lee, A. H. (2004) · Social Science & Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2004.04.007 · Cited by 147 · see citing works
“Risk It Out, Risk It Out”: Occupational and Organizational Stresses in Rural Policing
Ricciardelli, R. (2018) · Police Quarterly · doi:10.1177/1098611118772268 · Cited by 85 · see citing works
Cho, D., & Park, C. L. (2018) · European Journal of Cancer Care · doi:10.1111/ecc.12772 · Cited by 55 · see citing works
Bootsma, T. I., Schellekens, M. P. J., van Woezik, R. A. M., van der Lee, M. L., & Slatman, J. (2020) · Psycho-Oncology · doi:10.1002/pon.5213 · Cited by 55 · see citing works
Injury rehabilitation: a qualitative follow-up study
Evans, L., & Hardy, L. (2002) · Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport · doi:10.1080/02701367.2002.10609026 · Cited by 45 · see citing works
Primary mental health workers in child and adolescent mental health services
Macdonald, W., Bradley, S., Bower, P., Kramer, T., Sibbald, B., Garralda, E., & Harrington, R. (2004) · Journal of Advanced Nursing · doi:10.1111/j.1365-2648.2003.02967.x · Cited by 35 · see citing works
Nurse–Patient Interaction as a Treatment for Antepartum Depression: A Mixed-Methods Analysis
Evans, E. C., Deutsch, N. L., Drake, E., & Bullock, L. (2017) · Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association · doi:10.1177/1078390317705449 · Cited by 19 · see citing works
Atkinson, C. (2022) · Policing and Society · doi:10.1080/10439463.2021.1916491 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
A Mixed Method Investigation of Parent-Adolescent Communication About Mental Health
Wecht, S., Hendrixson, M., & Radović, A. (2024) · Journal of Adolescent Health · doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2024.07.012 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Driving as an Under-acknowledged Risk in Rural Policing
Ricciardelli, R., Spencer, D. C., & Andres, E. (2020) · Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice · doi:10.1093/police/pay057 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
- Authors
- Morgan, D. L.
- Affiliations
- Portland State University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Morgan, David L.
- ORCID
- Morgan, David L.
- Venue
- Qualitative Health Research
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 1998-05
- Volume
- 8
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 362-376
- ISSN
- 1049-7323 (ISSN-L)
- 1552-7557
- OpenAlex
- W2167195020
- Cited by
- 1,374
- References
- 2
- Citations by year
- 2026: 21 · 2025: 25 · 2024: 54 · 2023: 47 · 2022: 55 · 2021: 60 · 2020: 105 · 2019: 64 · 2018: 55 · 2017: 59 · 2016: 80 · 2015: 98 · 2014: 91 · 2013: 72 · 2012: 78
- FWCI
- 70.71
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Qualitative Health Research (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Education › Qualitative Research Methods and Applications
- Social Sciences › Education › Educational Research and Methods
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Health Information Management › Methodologies in Health Research and Practice
- Keywords
- mixed methods, qualitative-quantitative integration, complementarity, research design, health research, researcher expertise
- MeSH terms
- Decision Support Techniques, Health Services Research, Humans, Research Design
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
