A new era in research methods is emerging and has been quietly lauded by several emerging authorities in the field of mixed methods research. Like the mythology of the phoenix, mixed methods research has arisen out of the ashes of the paradigm wars to become the third methodological movement (Cameron & Miller 2007). The fields of applied social science and evaluation are among those which have shown the greatest popularity and uptake of mixed methods research designs. This article provides a brief overview of the rise of mixed methods research, its usage in business and management fields and its relationship to the philosophy of pragmatism. Typologies of mixed methods research designs are discussed and a case study of a sequential mixed model research design in the human resource development (HRD) field is presented. Issues related to design, analytical processes and display arising from utilising this particular mixed method research design are discussed. As a consequence, the article contains se...

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe the supervisor behaviours that employees found to be helpful and unhelpful in facilitating training transfer. The study aims to provide rich qualitative data from the employee's perspective.Design/methodology/approach: This study utilises a cross‐sectional design. A case study and a qualitative interpretivist approach were used to interpret the employee's responses. In total 24 semi‐structured interviews were conducted and responses were analysed with the aid of NVivo.Findings: The results suggested what supervisors did prior to, during and after course attendance was critical to training transfer. Supportive behaviours prior to the course included motivating, encouraging and setting expectations. Practical support provided during the course signalled the value that the supervisor placed on the course. Meetings held after the course provided the best opportunity to support transfer. Transfer was maximised when participants experienced a positive role model and when supervisors showed interest in their experience of the course, encouraged and sponsored new initiatives, and involved them in decision‐making. The main perceived hindrances to training transfer were culture, policies and a lack of encouragement.Originality/value: This is a qualitative study in a field of inquiry dominated by quantitative approaches. The results highlight the employee's perspective concerning what they found to assist in training transfer. This methodology is rarely evidenced in the extant literature.

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to examine the prevalence of mixed methods research across several business and management fields and to gauge the level of acceptance of mixed methods within these fields. Design/methodology/approach – The methodology employed for this study involved synthesizing the findings from six large-scale methodological scans of business and management discipline journals in seven fields: marketing, international business, strategic management, organizational behaviour, operations management, entrepreneurship and human resource management. Findings – The study finds that quantitative studies dominate all seven fields (76 per cent of empirical articles) followed by mixed methods (14 per cent of empirical articles) and qualitative studies (10 per cent of empirical articles). In applying the framework for acceptance levels, it would seem there exists minimal acceptance of mixed methods across these fields. Research limitations/implications – The study has limitations related to the coverage of different disciplines and differences in sample sets. More extensive research is planned for the future and will involve an expanded mixed method prevalence rate study across additional business and management fields. Practical implications – The growing use of mixed methods has practical implications for research training and capacity building within business schools. The study points to the need to develop research capacity through the introduction of postgraduate courses in mixed methods and advanced research skills training for existing researchers. Originality/value – Mixed methods is a relatively new and emerging methodological movement. This paper attempts to gauge the use and level of acceptance of mixed methods across a diverse range of business and management discipline areas.