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Boundaries and Boundary Objects: An Evaluation Framework for Mixed Methods Research

2017; SAGE Publishing; Volume: 13; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1177/1558689817732225

1558-6901

Beverly Wenger-Trayner, Etienne Wenger-Trayner, Josh Cameron, Suna Eryigit‐Madzwamuse, Angie Hart,

Evaluation and Performance Assessment

While mixed methods research is increasingly established as a methodological approach, researchers still struggle with boundaries arising from commitments to different methods and paradigms, and from attention to social justice. Combining two lines of work—social learning theory and the Imagine Program at the University of Brighton—we present an evaluation framework that was used to integrate the perspectives of multiple stakeholders in the program’s social interventions. We explore how this “value-creation framework” acts as a boundary object across “boundaries of practice,” specifically across quantitative and qualitative methods, philosophical paradigms, and participant perspectives. We argue that the framework’s focus on cycles of value creation provided the Imagine Program with a shared language for negotiating interpretation and action across those boundaries.