From mixed data sources to multimethods and integrative mixed methods

Business and management researchers frequently draw on mixed data sources and multiple methods for their research, but they rarely fully exploit their integrative potential. This chapter will illustrate this issue and elaborate on how integration of methods can be achieved and the benefits of doing so. Core strategies include (a) using one method to inform the design or analysis of another, (b) weaving or merging data and preliminary analyses from different methods into a combined report, description, or narrative, (c) comparing data obtained through different methods, and (d) converting data from one form to another, to allow dual analyses. It emphasises the importance of iterative exchange throughout the study, and of focusing analytic records on components of the substantive topic, rather than sorting by sources or methods. It suggests that the key problem for management researchers is not openness to using varied data sources, but awareness of tools and strategies for integration of those data.