How to choose a research methodology that fits your question
Methodology is not a preference. It follows from what your question asks and what evidence would answer it.
Let the question decide
Questions about how many, how much, or how strongly two things are related call for quantitative evidence: measurements from enough cases to compare. Questions about how, why, or what something is like for the people in it call for qualitative evidence: depth from fewer cases.
Mixed methods earn their place when one kind of evidence genuinely needs the other — a survey to find a pattern, then interviews to explain it. Using both "to be thorough" usually means doing each one thinly.
Justify, do not just describe
Examiners want to see why this method answers this question better than the alternatives, and what its limits are. One paragraph that names the alternative you rejected, and why, is worth more than pages describing the method in general terms.
Check it is doable
A statistically meaningful survey needs enough responses to support the comparisons you plan. Interviews need people willing to talk, time to transcribe, and a method for analysing what they say. Secondary data needs to exist, be accessible, and measure what you need. Confirm each before you commit.
Checklist
- I can say what evidence would answer my question.
- My method produces that evidence.
- I have explained why this method and not the alternative.
- I know my sample size or number of cases, and why.
- I have a way to analyse what I collect.
- I have named the limits of the method.
Common mistakes
- Choosing a survey because it is familiar, for a "why" question.
- Mixed methods with no reason the two parts need each other.
- Describing the method without justifying it.
- No plan for analysing interview data.
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Frequently asked questions
Should I use qualitative or quantitative research?
Use quantitative methods for how many, how much or relationships between measurable things; qualitative for how, why and experience. Let the question decide.
Is mixed methods better?
Only when the two kinds of evidence genuinely depend on each other. Otherwise it spreads a small project too thin.