The University of the West Indies is seeking to encourage local and Caribbean researchers to adopt the use of mixed methods research methods, which it describes as “the newest frontier in scientific investigations”.

To that end, the School of Education, the Faculty of Social Sciences, Mona and the UWI School of Nursing recently staged a conference on the subject under the theme “Looking Backwards and Forward: The Evolution of Mixed Methods Research Communities”.“ Mixed methods research offers an alternative to quantitative and qualitative research practices and is increasingly being recognised as the third major research paradigm,” the university said in a release to the press.Speaking at the conference, Professor Archibald McDonald, Pro-Vice Chancellor and Principal of UWI, Mona, said mixed methods:“…is the new path that research is taking in our international society and … the staging of the 2017 Second Regional Mixed Methods Conference in the Caribbean will help steer our researchers into the new and exciting track of multidisciplinary research, thus taking us one step closer to enhancing our regional development.”Dr Loraine Cook, conference chair and senior lecturer in educational psychology and research methods at the School of Education, told the conference that mixed methods provides researchers with additional tools for acquiring data and information to inform policy decisions at all levels and to add credibility to those decisions.The conference, which had some 140 attendees, was addressed by internationally recognised experts in the field of mixed methods research, including professors John Creswell and Jennifer Greene. The conference also saw the formation of the Mixed Methods Research Caribbean Chapter, which was launched with 52 members.