A Systematic Review of Research Questions in Mixed Methods Studies in Instructional Design

Researchers’ reliance on using mixed methods for in-depth understanding of a phenomenon is on a rise. This review provides a synthesis of studies using Mixed Methods Research (MMR) approach in the field of instructional design, with a particular focus on research questions. The results show that of the 752 articles published on MMR in the instructional design field, only 80 studies framed the research questions that were consistent with the practice of MMR. Of those 80 studies, findings revealed that experimental research questions and descriptive research questions were the most popular types of research questions used. Furthermore, the MMR articles were published in multiple (n=59) peer-reviewed journals are mostly in higher education (44%) and K-12 settings (42.5%). Although, there is a steady increase in the application MMR with the highest number of studies published in 2018 (29%) and 2017 (25%), the number of articles that accurately frame research questions were very low. This study revealed a need to build instructional design researchers’ ability to use MMR questions in their studies. This report suggests optimal ways to develop research questions that are grounded in the fundamental principles of MMR.