Arts and Mixed Methods Research: An Innovative Methodological Merger

Abstract

Integrating the arts with mixed methods research (MMR) presents untapped potential for innovative methodological approaches. Arts and MMR integration exists on a continuum, ranging from low-level (e.g., communicating about MMR using art) to high-level integration (e.g., interweaving arts-based and MMR approaches), and myriad art forms are available to facilitate concept formation, data collection, analysis, and representation. Given that a primary objective of the arts and MMR respectively is to explore and understand the complex social world, arts–MMR integration has potential to enable insights not possible through the use of either approach in isolation, and to present new opportunities for transformative social change. In this article, we explore such potentials and intersections philosophically and methodologically by way of four case examples framed by the newly conceptualized Art-MMR Integration Continuum, which ranges from communicative, data source, analytic, and conceptual integration.