¶ … generalize how and when research approaches could be blended or adapted for a research study.
Blending and adapting the approaches
Despite the fact that there is a distinct typology between the five different types of qualitative approaches to research, it is not uncommon to blend these approaches in the real world of investigative study. What is critical to such hybridization is that it is done consciously rather than unconsciously and with deliberate design and intention. An excellent example of such a blended approach might occur with an ethnography, in which it is impossible to get a large enough sample of the study population to do a complete survey of the culture. Combining an ethnography format, which focuses on cultural variance, but using a narrative approach in which a handful of members of a particular culture are allowed to describe their experiences in a manner relatively unfettered by theory can be a useful window into little-studied populations. Also, this allows for a very specific focus (like the worldviews of Japanese-American women) that might not be possible in a more generalized ethnography.
Another possible blended approach might be combining the 'case study' method with a grounded theory approach. In the case study approach a...
Case studies use multiple sources of information, such as interviews with therapists experienced in dealing with veterans as well as the veterans themselves. Grounded theory aspires to create a theory based upon inductive analysis and 'coding' the data observed and recorded as part of the research process. A highly specific grounded theory might arise regarding the specific stressors of veterans returning from the Iraqi War, based upon the unique constellation of physical and psychological factors these individuals in the case study were subjected to over the course of their service.
It is important to make a distinction between a blended approach and a mixed methods approach. "Another thing to consider as you think about studies is what some might call multi-method where that's a kind of a way to talk about, you know a blended approach within qualitative multiple approaches within the same paradigm" (Lynn n.d.: 1). A blended qualitative approach uses different qualitative research methods while a mixed methods design uses a mix of qualitative and quantitative research paradigms. Blended approaches of qualitative methods…
