McChesney and Aldridge argue that researchers have the flexibility as well as the responsibility to consider how a method or mixed methods is consistent with the philosophical assumptions of a paradigm. The article, Weaving an Interpretivist Stance Throughout Mixed Methods Research by Katrina McChesney and Jill M. Aldridge, problematizes the often unquestioned assumption that certain methods ‘belong’ with particular paradigms. The first two articles in the special issue disrupt traditional thinking about how theory can be used for mixed methods work. The educational researchers, evaluators, and methodological scholars featured in this special issue thoughtfully question taken-for-granted paradigmatic assumptions, creatively theorize the purpose of mixed methods, illuminate the capacity and complexity of mixed methods research teams, make meaning of mixed methods work through artistic expression, promote the transformative possibilities of mixed methods designs, and purposefully mix different analytic approaches to produce richer understandings. As guest editors, Jennifer C. Greene and I consider the articles in this special issue of the International Journal of Research and Method in Education a kaleidoscope containing a diversity of intellectual thought on mixed methods in education that attends carefully to both conceptual and practical issues. The Merriam-Webster online dictionary describes a kaleidoscope as ‘an instrument containing loose bits of coloured material (such as glass or plastic) between two flat plates and two plan mirrors so placed that changes of position of the bits of material are reflected in an endless variety of patterns’ (“Kaleidoscope,” Citation2019).
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