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Combining Qualitative and Quantitative Methodologies in Research on Teachers’ Lives, Work, and Effectiveness: From Integration to Synergy

CHRISTOPHER DAY is a professor of education at the University of Nottingham, School of Education, Jubilee Campus, Wollaton Road, Nottingham, UK NG8 1BB; christopher.day{at}nottingham.ac.uk. He is also director of the Teacher and Leadership Research Centre at the University of Nottingham. His research focuses on teacher learning, development, and change, and on school leadership.

Pam Sammons

PAM SAMMONS is a professor at the University of Nottingham, School of Education, Jubilee Campus, Wollaton Road, Nottingham, UK NG8 1BB; pam.sammons{at}nottingham.ac.uk. She is a principal investigator on the Effective Pre-school and Primary Education Project and codirects an ESRC-funded study of Effective Classroom Practice (2006–2008). Her research focuses on educational effectiveness, improvement, leadership, and equity, including preschool and school influences.

Qing Gu

QING GU is a senior research fellow at the University of Nottingham, School of Education, Jubilee Campus, Wollaton Road, Nottingham, UK NG8 1BB; qing.gu{at}nottingham.ac.uk. She is principle investigator of a 2-year research project funded by the Economic and Social Research Council and investigating the intercultural experiences of international students at universities in the United Kingdom. Her research focuses on teachers’ professional development and on intercultural and comparative education.

The authors of this article discuss how a mixed-methods research team designed and conducted a 4-year study (Variations in Teachers’ Work and Lives and Their Effects on Pupils) that tracked 300 teachers in 100 schools in England over a 3-year fieldwork period. The authors discuss processes that led to new knowledge. Although mixed methods are becoming more popular, few published accounts describe in detail how researchers have moved beyond the use and integration of mixed methods to arrive at more synergistic understandings. The advantage of synergistic approaches is their consideration and combination of a greater range of data, resulting in more nuanced, authentic accounts and explanations of complex realities.

Key Words: commitment • integration and synergy • mixed methods • professional life phase • teacher effectiveness

Educational Researcher, Vol. 37, No. 6, 330-342 (2008)
DOI: 10.3102/0013189X08324091


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