I think that your contribution of Prof. Shaffer is absolutely relevant. From my experience in the field with evaluation missions, it is absolutely vital to develop a set of methodologies able to analyse what we need to understand. And in my experience that set of methodologies is always a mix of qualitative (first, to "explore the reality") and quantitative (to "deduce trends and magnitudes") methodologies. And, as you said, it is hard to treat them as "absolutely qualitative" or "absolutely quantitative". A canny interrelationship between quali and quantitative methodologies is always one of the most challenging steps of the preparation process of the evaluation mission.
Looking to seeing more interesting comments on this absolutely interesting topic on evaluation, best regards
RE: How are mixed methods used in programme evaluation?
Dear Emilia and colleagues,
I think that your contribution of Prof. Shaffer is absolutely relevant. From my experience in the field with evaluation missions, it is absolutely vital to develop a set of methodologies able to analyse what we need to understand. And in my experience that set of methodologies is always a mix of qualitative (first, to "explore the reality") and quantitative (to "deduce trends and magnitudes") methodologies. And, as you said, it is hard to treat them as "absolutely qualitative" or "absolutely quantitative". A canny interrelationship between quali and quantitative methodologies is always one of the most challenging steps of the preparation process of the evaluation mission.
Looking to seeing more interesting comments on this absolutely interesting topic on evaluation, best regards
Vicente