Combining qualitative and quantitative approaches to investigate anomalous experiences

Combining qualitative and quantitative approaches is often referred to as mixed methods research. Johnson, Onwuegbuzie, and Turner (2007, p. 123) define mixed methods research as “the type of research in which a researcher or team of researchers combines elements of qualitative and quantitative research approaches (e.g., use of qualitative and quantitative viewpoints, data collection, analysis, inference techniques) for the broad purposes of breadth and depth of understanding and corroboration. The central premise is that a combination of qualitative and quantitative design components is likely to result in a more substantial understanding of the topic of interest than a singular approach would allow. We will discuss certain decisions that need to be made when undertaking mixed methods research such as how data collection might be implemented (i.e., whether concurrent or sequentially) and prioritized (i.e., whether qualitative and quantitative aspects will have equal or unequal emphasis), and at what point data will be integrated or mixed (i.e., at the data collection, analysis or interpretation stage). Using illustrations from our own work exploring mediumistic phenomena and a current project investigating counselling for anomalous experiences we will demonstrate the value of adopting a mixed methods approach in transpersonal research