Effective classroom practice: a mixed-method study of influences and outcomes: a research paper

This brief paper reports findings from a two-year research project, funded by the ESRC, which identified, described and analyzed variation in effective primary and secondary school teachers’ classroom practice. The study also explored these practices in relation to different school contexts and teachers’ professional life phases in order to draw out relevant implications for policy and practice

Use of mixed methods designs in substance research: a methodological necessity in Nigeria

The utility of mixed methods (qualitative and quantitative) is becoming increasingly accepted in health sciences, but substance studies are yet to substantially benefit from such utilities. While there is a growing number of mixed methods alcohol articles concerning developed countries, developing nations are yet to embrace this method. In the Nigerian context, the importance of mixed methods research is yet to be acknowledged. This article therefore, draws on alcohol studies to argue that mixed methods designs will better equip scholars to understand, explore, describe and explain why alcohol consumption and its related problems are increasing in Nigeria. It argues that as motives for consuming alcohol in contemporary Nigeria are multiple, complex and evolving, mixed method approaches that provide multiple pathways for proffering solutions to problems should be embraced

INTERCULTURALITY OF MIXED-MARRIED COUPLE: A SUNDANESE MALE AND A FOREIGN FEMALE

The Indonesian foreign policy of free-active makes an enormous impact in many respects. One of the impacts is a mixed-married couple of an Indonesian citizen and a citizen from various countries. This research is about the interculturality of mixed-married couple, the couple is a Sundanese male and a foreign female from other country.The marriage among nations has led to a cultural diffusion little by little. Interculturality in mixed-marriage is important to be observed. The objectives of the research are to describe the five elements of the culture that affect the couple culture, and to describe the impact of each other cultureto his or her spouse. The method used in this research is qualitative-descriptive method with questionnaire. The data are taken from the mixed-marriage couple who lives in Bandung. The theories are taken from Samovar (2012) and Sumardjo (2012). The results of this research is interculturality of both cultures, Sundanese culture and foreign cultures,gives the impact of understanding to the spous’s behavior. The dominant culture in this mixed-marriage is the culture of the location where they live now

Qualitative theory testing as mixed-method research

While the concept of mixed-methods research is more usually associated with combining quantitative and qualitative approaches, this paper outlines a study that mixed methods by undertaking qualitative theory testing and derivation when examining the relationship between health promotion theory and hospital nursing practice. Thus, it is concerned with relating the metatheoretical aspects of the debate and not with the pragmatic aspects of the research and concomitant methods. A deductive–inductive–deductive design, based on the theory–research–theory strategy of Meleis (1985), tested, revised and developed for nursing established health promotion theory using theory-testing criteria. To complement the methodological mix, the study also used the theory (i.e. a health-promotion taxonomy) as a framework to contextualise the findings rather than generate theory in the way associated with interpretative inquiry. While inconsistent with the traditional view linking theory testing with quantitative, objective epistemology, the process enabled a theoretically robust health-promotion taxonomy to be synthesised and advanced for use in nursing in relation to a paradigm of social thought

The value of mixed-method longitudinal panel studies in ict research

This paper uses a unique British three-wave longitudinal dataset to examine the rates of transitions into and out of ‘ICT poverty’ defined as having Internet access in the household and/or having a mobile phone. This serves three purposes: it shows that many are still ‘passing by’ ICT ownership, that ‘gaining ICT’ access is not a one-way street – many just pass through; and that the rates of dropping out differ for different ICTs and for different groups of people. This has implications for both commercial and public policy strategy. It also shows the value of longitudinal approaches to data collection without which this kind of analysis would be impossible

Visualising mixed reality simulation for multiple users

Cowling, MA ORCiD: 0000-0003-1444-1563Blended reality seeks to encourage co-presence in the classroom, blending student experience across virtual and physical worlds. In a similar way, Mixed Reality, a continuum between virtual and real environments, is now allowing learners to work in both the physical and the digital world simultaneously, especially when combined with an immersive headset experience. This experience provides innovative new experiences for learning, but faces the challenge that most of these experiences are single user, leaving others outside the new environment. The question therefore becomes, how can a mixed reality simulation be experienced by multiple users, and how can we present that simulation effectively to users to create a true blended reality environment? This paper proposes a study that uses existing screen production research into the user and spectator to produce a mixed reality simulation suitable for multiple users. A research method using Design Based Research is also presented to assess the usability of the approach

Investigating information systems with mixed-methods research

Mixed-methods research, which comprises both quantitative and qualitative components, is widely perceived as a means to resolve the inherent limitations of traditional single method designs and is thus expected to yield richer and more holistic findings. Despite such distinctive benefits and continuous advocacy from Information Systems (IS) researchers, the use of mixed-methods approach in the IS field has not been high. This paper discusses some of the key reasons that led to this low application rate of mixed-methods design in the IS field, ranging from misunderstanding the term with multiple-methods research to practical difficulties for design and implementation. Two previous IS studies are used as examples to illustrate the discussion. The paper concludes by recommending that in order to apply mixed-methods design successfully, IS researchers need to plan and consider thoroughly how the quantitative and qualitative components (i.e. from data collection to data analysis to reporting of findings) can be genuinely integrated together and supplement one another, in relation to the predefined research questions and the specific research contexts

Convergence and Optimality of Adaptive Mixed Methods on Surfaces

In a 1988 article, Dziuk introduced a nodal finite element method for the Laplace-Beltrami equation on 2-surfaces approximated by a piecewise-linear triangulation, initiating a line of research into surface finite element methods (SFEM). Demlow and Dziuk built on the original results, introducing an adaptive method for problems on 2-surfaces, and Demlow later extended the a priori theory to 3-surfaces and higher order elements. In a separate line of research, the Finite Element Exterior Calculus (FEEC) framework has been developed over the last decade by Arnold, Falk and Winther and others as a way to exploit the observation that mixed variational problems can be posed on a Hilbert complex, and Galerkin-type mixed methods can be obtained by solving finite dimensional subproblems. In 2011, Holst and Stern merged these two lines of research by developing a framework for variational crimes in abstract Hilbert complexes, allowing for application of the FEEC framework to problems that violate the subcomplex assumption of Arnold, Falk and Winther. When applied to Euclidean hypersurfaces, this new framework recovers the original a priori results and extends the theory to problems posed on surfaces of arbitrary dimensions. In yet another seemingly distinct line of research, Holst, Mihalik and Szypowski developed a convergence theory for a specific class of adaptive problems in the FEEC framework. Here, we bring these ideas together, showing convergence and optimality of an adaptive finite element method for the mixed formulation of the Hodge Laplacian on hypersurfaces.Comment: 22 pages, no figures. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1306.188

Functional Linear Mixed Models for Irregularly or Sparsely Sampled Data

We propose an estimation approach to analyse correlated functional data which are observed on unequal grids or even sparsely. The model we use is a functional linear mixed model, a functional analogue of the linear mixed model. Estimation is based on dimension reduction via functional principal component analysis and on mixed model methodology. Our procedure allows the decomposition of the variability in the data as well as the estimation of mean effects of interest and borrows strength across curves. Confidence bands for mean effects can be constructed conditional on estimated principal components. We provide R-code implementing our approach. The method is motivated by and applied to data from speech production research