In person icon Challenges and Possibilities of Intersectionality-Informed Mixed Methods Research

Abstract

Broadly speaking, intersectionality can be understood as an analytical or heuristic strategy for approaching different forms of social stratification – at individual and structural levels – as inextricably intertwined. Recently, a number of scholars have suggested that an optimal application of intersectionality would involve marrying the strengths of quantitative and qualitative methods in order to fully explore individuals’ lives at macro and micro levels (Hankivsky and Grace 2014; Dubrow 2013; Hancock 2013; Bowleg 2012; Hankivsky 2012; Spierings, 2012); Thornton & Dill 2012; Weber & Castellow 2012; Ungar & Liebenberg 2011). In general, however, research applications of intersectionality are underdeveloped and there is little discussion of the advancements in mixed-methods research that have been realized through applications of intersectionality. As this is a fairly new development in the literature, there remain many unanswered questions regarding the relationship between the pragmatist paradigm of mixed methods research and the critical traditions of intersectionality scholarship. Drawing on the following research projects of panel participants: • Karen Celis & Liza Mügge (descriptive and substantive representation in politics and policy) • Joshua Dubrow (survey design and analysis: mixed methods, survey data harmonization, and big data); • Olena Hankivsky (challenges with synthesizing qualitative and quantitative data findings with a focus on health experiences within Ukraine); • Niels Spierings (development of multilevel models for feminizing statistics with a focus on women, Islam and democratization in the Arab Middle East); the panel will explore, in an interactive fashion, the following questions: Does intersectionality require a particular type of mixed methods research design? Does intersectionality fundamentally transform the building blocks of mixed methods - quantitative and qualitative approaches as well as the relationship between the two? What is necessary for any mixed method study to claim that it is intersectional? What is the value added, if any, of applying intersectionality to mixed methods research? Does it demand a different conceptualization of categories? Are salient categories and their interactions determined a priori or discovered during the process of research and analysis? And at what point in the research process is intersectionality most important: determining the research question, collecting data and/or analysis and interpretation? This session will contribute to the ongoing discussions regarding the operationalization of intersectionality, lessons learned in applying intersectionality to mixed methods research projects and identifying the challenges and opportunities of engaging with this kind of research.