TY - JOUR
T1 - Mixing methods in randomized controlled trials (RCTs)
T2 - Validation, contextualization, triangulation, and control
AU - Spillane, James P.
AU - Pareja, Amber Stitziel
AU - Dorner, Lisa
AU - Barnes, Carol
AU - May, Henry
AU - Huff, Jason
AU - Camburn, Eric
N1 - Funding Information:
An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Chicago April 9th – 13th, 2007. The research was supported through a grant from the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences and the Distributed Leadership Studies supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation (Grant # EHR – 0412510). We also thank James Pustejovsky, Beth Sanders, and Jimmy Sebastian for their research assistance at various stages of the work. Please direct any correspondence regarding this paper to Jim Spillane – [email protected]. J.P.Spillane(*).A.S.Pareja.L.Dorner Northwestern University, 2120 Campus Drive, Annenberg Hall 208, Evanston, IL 60208, USA e-mail: [email protected]
PY - 2010/3
Y1 - 2010/3
N2 - In this paper we described how we mixed research approaches in a Randomized Control Trial (RCT) of a school principal professional development program. Using examples from our study we illustrate how combining qualitative and quantitative data can address some key challenges from validating instruments and measures of mediator variables to examining how contextual factors interact with the treatment. Describing how we transformed our qualitative and quantitative data, we consider how mixing methods enabled us to deal with the two core RCT challenges of random assignment and treatment control critical. Our account offers insights into ways of maximizing the potential of mixing research methods in RCTs.
AB - In this paper we described how we mixed research approaches in a Randomized Control Trial (RCT) of a school principal professional development program. Using examples from our study we illustrate how combining qualitative and quantitative data can address some key challenges from validating instruments and measures of mediator variables to examining how contextual factors interact with the treatment. Describing how we transformed our qualitative and quantitative data, we consider how mixing methods enabled us to deal with the two core RCT challenges of random assignment and treatment control critical. Our account offers insights into ways of maximizing the potential of mixing research methods in RCTs.
KW - Mixed methods
KW - Randomized controlled trials
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U2 - 10.1007/s11092-009-9089-8
DO - 10.1007/s11092-009-9089-8
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:77649272091
SN - 1874-8597
VL - 22
SP - 5
EP - 28
JO - Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability
JF - Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability
IS - 1
ER -