Rethinking integration in mixed methods research using data from different eras: lessons from a project about teenage vocational behaviour

Abstract

Mixed methods research requires integration of qualitative and quantitative data. However, there is debate about how to define integration and what is required for integration to occur. This paper describes a mixed methods research project which revisits datasets from different eras, which were originally instigated for different purposes and had different theoretical frameworks. Using selected results about the relationship between teenagers’ vocational aspirations and adult occupations we show how the research topic and question integrated the projects within a constructivist theoretical position. We argue that reanalysing and comparing historical datasets can provide new insights into a topic even with minimal integration of the data. We recommend a broad definition of integration and reflexive research practice to encourage innovation and diversity in mixed methods research, particularly with regard to reanalysis of datasets from different eras.

Keywords:

• Mixed methods
• integration
• data reanalysis
• historical data

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the participants in the two studies described in this article: the Dunedin Study members and their families who have given a lifetime of support to the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study and the 93 young people who gave their time to participate in the Transitions Project.

Notes

1. This Study was called the Pathways to Employment Project and is fully described in Sligo (2014).

2. This Study is called the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study. The life of this study is described and summarised in Poulton, Moffitt, and Silva (2015).

3. The NZSCO groups similar occupations into nine groups. These are: Legislators, administrators and managers; Professionals; Technicians and associate professionals; Clerks; Service and sales workers; Agricultural and fishery workers; Trades workers; Plant and machine operators and assemblers; and Elementary occupations. Each category combines occupations which have been deemed to have similar skill level and require similar amounts of education and experience.

4. The regressions were performed using Stata 8.0 software and the other analyses via Excel, 2010.

5. Examples include teen aspiration of becoming a vet and working as a financial advisor, wanting to be a police officer and working as a secretary, wanting to be a chemist and becoming a waiter.

6. See Nairn et al. (2012) for a full description of this project.

7. The other theoretical perspective was post-feminist theory.

8. These names are pseudonyms and details have been changed to protect these participants’ anonymity.

9. New Zealand’s largest city, which is marked by the discrepancy in wealth between the affluent northern and financially deprived southern suburbs.