Methodological Evaluation of the Use of ICTs in Mixed Method Research in Education

Abstract

The purpose of this phenomenological research was to evaluate the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in mixed method research (MMR) in education from a educational researchers’ methodological perspective. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 educational researchers. The data were analyzed by thematic content analysis. Nine themes were identified in the interviews with educational researchers. The most emphasized contribution of ICTs was found to be about data collection. Six of the themes explained the need for new data collection tools and positive evaluations of ICTs on triangulation and transformation of data by collecting massive, in-depth and original data for MMRs. Two themes were about the role of the researcher in MMRs. Educational researchers argued that the use of ICTs in MMRs can support collaborations among researchers and reduce researcher limitations. Finally, educational researchers underlined the critical importance of the discovery of new MMR models in digital age.