This paper explores the challenge of navigating complexity within mixed methods research process, drawing on a large-scale interdisciplinary environmental project exploring the wellbeing dimensions of human interaction with woodland biodiversity. Reflecting on the design and implementation of a multiphase mixed methods project involving over 9,000 participants, we examine how complexity emerged through the phenomenon under investigation, the structure of the research design, and the collaborations through which knowledge was produced. The study integrated diverse methods, data sources, and analytical approaches across two phases of inquiry, generating diverse outputs. Beyond field-specific methodological innovations, we argue that large-scale interdisciplinary environmental research provides a productive context for understanding the emergence, operation, and methodological value of complex mixed methods designs.
We contribute to the field of mixed methods design by proposing a model for data sharing that conceptualizes dataset flexibility as a designable property shaped by cinematic (data collection) and editorial design decisions (data curation). The flexibility of a dataset is constituted by its dimensions (e.g., multidisciplinarity, multimodality, multitemporality, and multilevel) and structure which together condition researchers’ options for data transformation, emergence, and integration. We develop and illustrate the model through a large-scale video collaboratory, where 28 international research teams analyzed a shared, video-based dataset of professional design activity. We reflect on ethical implications, and outline opportunities and challenges for integration within and across research teams.
This article arises from a theory-informed, sequential, mixed methods project which combined a survey and multiple nested case studies to examine implementation and experience in the context of mental health crisis services for children and young people in England and Wales. Its primary contribution to mixed methods research is to show how theory, mixed methods and case studies can be practicably brought together to improve understanding of complex interventions introduced into complex systems. It makes a further contribution through a reflective exploration of the implementation of mixed methods research in sensitive fields involving vulnerable groups, by specifically exploring: participation and engagement; and fieldwork flexibility, power and control.
