Collaboration Patterns as a Function of Research Experience Among Mixed Researchers: A Mixed Methods Bibliometric Study

Authors

Melanie S. Wachsmann, Sam Houston State UniversityFollow
Anthony J. Onwuegbuzie, Sam Houston State UniversityFollow
Susan Hoisington, Sam Houston State UniversityFollow
Vanessa Gonzales, Sam Houston State UniversityFollow
Rachael Wilcox, Sam Houston State UniversityFollow
Rachel Valle, Sam Houston State UniversityFollow
Majed Aleisa, Sam Houston State UniversityFollow

Abstract

Onwuegbuzie et al. (2018) documented that the degree of collaboration is higher for mixed researchers than for qualitative and quantitative researchers. The present investigation examined the (a) link between the research experience of lead authors and their propensity to collaborate (Quantitative Phase), and (b) role of research experience in collaborative mixed research studies (Qualitative Phase). Analyses of articles published in the Journal of Mixed Methods Research from 2007 (its inception) to the third issue in 2018 (time of data collection) revealed that the average research experience of lead authors decreased from 20.29 in 2007 to 14.24 in 2017 (last complete year), representing a significant reduction of 29.8%. No statistically significant relationship emerged between degree of collaboration and research experience. The qualitative phase yielded 3 themes and 9 subthemes that identified several differences and similarities between the desire for collaboration and research experience. In particular, for the least-experienced mixed methods researchers, collaboration might be associated with negative emotions (e.g., frustration, stress, anxiety) and this coupled with the lack of perceived weaknesses reported by the most-experienced sub-participants, suggest that years of experience have an impact on their affective state during the conduct of collaborative mixed methods research studies. Implications of these findings are discussed.

Keywords

Mixed Methods Bibliometrics, Bibliometrics, Collaboration, Mixed Methods, Mixed Research

Author Bio(s)

Melanie S. Wachsmann is a doctoral student in the Department of Educational Leadership at Sam Houston State University.

Anthony J. Onwuegbuzie is a Senior Research Associate at the University of Cambridge. In addition, he is Distinguished Visiting Professor at the University of Johannesburg; Honorary Professor at the University of South Africa; Honorary Visiting Scholar at Flinders University, College of Nursing and Health Sciences; Visiting Senior Scholar, St. John’s University, New York; and an Honorary Recognised Supervisor (Online), University of Liverpool. Correspondence regarding this article can be addressed directly to: tonyonwuegbuzie@aol.com.

Susan Hoisington recently earned her doctorate degree from the Department of Educational Leadership at Sam Houston State University.

Vanessa Gonzales is a doctoral student in the Department of Educational Leadership at Sam Houston State University.

Susan Hoisington recently earned her doctorate degree from the Higher Education Program in the Department of Educational Leadership at Sam Houston State University.

Rachel Valle is a doctoral student in the Department of Educational Leadership at Sam Houston State University.

Majed Aleisa is a doctoral student in the School of Teaching and Learning at Sam Houston State University.

Publication Date

12-2-2019

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

DOI

10.46743/2160-3715/2019.3852

Recommended APA Citation

Wachsmann, M. S., Onwuegbuzie, A. J., Hoisington, S., Gonzales, V., Wilcox, R., Valle, R., & Aleisa, M. (2019). Collaboration Patterns as a Function of Research Experience Among Mixed Researchers: A Mixed Methods Bibliometric Study. The Qualitative Report, 24(12), 2954-2979. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2019.3852