Using Mixed-Methods Sequential Explanatory Design: From Theory to Practice

This article discusses some procedural issues related to the mixed-methods sequential explanatory design, which implies collecting and analyzing quantitative and then qualitative data in two consecutive phases within one study. Such issues include deciding on the priority or weight given to the quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis in the study, the sequence of the data collection and analysis, and the stage/stages in the research process at which the quantitative and qualitative data are connected and the results are integrated. The article provides a methodological overview of priority, implementation, and mixing in the sequential explanatory design and offers some practical guidance in addressing those issues. It also outlines the steps for graphically representing the procedures in a mixed-methods study. A mixed-methods sequential explanatory study of doctoral students’ persistence in a distance-learning program in educational leadership is used to illustrate the methodological discussion.