Methodology MattersMixed methods: Expanding research methodologies in pharmacy education
Section snippets
Our Situation, issue, or problem
A growing body of literature in health care and education point to the challenges of providing students with opportunities to develop critical workplace skills (e.g., adaptability, collaboration, communication, and initiative).1, 2, 3 In many cases, these skills are best taught and assessed in the context of experiential education; however, researchers interested in examining student development during experiential education are faced with a number of challenges, including small sample sizes
Methodological literature review
In general, mixed methods research can be defined as the combination of both quantitative and qualitative research efforts to address one research question (Table 1).6, 7, 8 The combination of these two approaches can answer a specific research question more comprehensively, increase the tools available to conduct a research study, and broaden the scope of research possible.7, 9 Through integration of quantitative and qualitative research, investigators are able to maximize the strengths and
Our recommendations and their applications
In the situation described at the start of this article (i.e., my research team was recently tasked with developing a new experiential education program and evaluating its impact on the professional identity development of students), mixed methods were used for a number of reasons. First, our sample size was relatively small (about 20 students). This meant that while we planned to collect valuable and relevant information in the form of survey items (e.g., self-efficacy), there was a risk that
Potential impact
Pharmacy educators are uniquely positioned to examine critical research questions that are not only of importance in pharmacy and pharmacy education, but of increasing importance and interest to larger audiences within health professions and higher education. Expanding research toolkits to include approaches to collecting, analyzing, and applying quantitative and qualitative data are likely to strengthen educational research in pharmacy education, contribute to associated research in other
Conclusion
Mixed methods research can equip pharmacy educators to expand the scope and reach of their research. It has implications across the full span of pharmacy education and provides unique opportunities for designing studies that more accurately and comprehensively address questions of interest. Blending quantitative and qualitative methods can expand our understanding of a phenomenon, help us triangulate findings, and generate complementary results. Expanding our research toolkits to include mixed
Conflict of interest
None.
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2021, Currents in Pharmacy Teaching and LearningCitation Excerpt :Those students who indicated on the graduation survey that they had participated in the SDP were prompted with items evaluating the student experience and perception of the SDP. A mixed-methods approach was used to develop these graduation survey items using themes identified through the qualitative coding described above.19 Those students who indicated they had participated in the SDP were prompted to indicate their level of agreement on a 4-point Likert scale ranging from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (4).
Patterns in Swedish pharmacy students' performance and attitudes towards their education
2019, Currents in Pharmacy Teaching and LearningCitation Excerpt :In order to identify areas for program optimization highlighted by the interviewees, a thematic analysis was used. The coding was first performed by the authors separately and involved sorting comments from the students linked to the research questions and making notes about possible themes that could deepen the understanding of the results from the quantitative analysis.8 After triangulation, four themes were chosen for further analysis9: (1) future profession, (2) peer learning, (3) strategies for managing studies, and (4) teaching.