A constructive Approach to Managing Faculty Conflict: An Action Research Study

Methods and Procedures MMAR Approach

The definition of mixed methods research included six “core characteristics” that combines methods, a philosophy and a research design orientation. Each of these characteristics is essential for designing and conducting a mixed methods study (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2011 as cited by Ivankova, 2015).
The six major characteristics of an MMAR approach include: (1) the researcher collects and analyzes data persuasively and rigorously both quantitative and qualitative based on the research questions, (2) the researcher mixes or integrates the two forms of data concurrently or combining/merging them sequentially by having one build on the other or embedding one within the other, (3) the researcher gives priority to one or both forms of data, (4) the researcher uses procedures in a single study or in multiple phases of a program of study, (5) the researcher frames these procedures within philosophical worldviews and theoretical lenses, and (6) the researcher combines the procedures into specific research designs that direct the plan for conducting the study (Ivankova, 2015).
In the implemented study, the researcher collected and analyzed both qualitative and quantitative data based on the research questions and integrated the results of quantitative and qualitative data concurrently while interpreting the study’s outcomes. In this study, the researcher gave priority to the qualitative data due to the in-depth explanations they provided. The researcher used mixed methods procedures in a single study and framed those procedures within the philosophical worldview of an advocacy/participatory worldview and the theoretical lens of conflict resolution.

In an advocacy and participatory worldview, the research contains an action agenda for reform that may change the lives of the participants, the institutions in which the individuals work or live, and the researcher’s life. Specific issues need to be addressed and the researcher begins with one of these issues as a focal point of the study. The advocacy research provides a voice for the participants, raising consciousness or advancing an agenda for change to improve lives (Creswell, 2008).

The theoretical foundation of this implemented study was conflict resolution which refers to the facilitated analysis of the underlying sources of conflict situations by the parties in the conflict. The term conflict resolution also encompasses the process whereby institutional and policy options are discovered that meet the needs of the parties, thus establishing the basis for a resolution of the conflict (Burton, 1986).