1 USING MULTI- AND MIXED METHODS RESEARCH DESIGNS This is a pre-publica/on version of: Saunders MNK and Darabi F (2024) ‘Using multi- and mixed methods research designs’ In J Parker, N Donnelly, S Ressia and M Gavin (Eds.) Field Guide to Field Guide to Researching Employment and Industrial Relations. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar. pp.69-85. Mark NK Saunders ORCID 0000-0001-5176-8317 Mark N.K. Saunders is Professor of Business Research Methods at the Birmingham Business School, University of Birmingham, UK; and a VisiMng Professor at the Gordon InsMtute of Business Science, University of Pretoria, South Africa. His research focuses on research methods and methodologies, and trust and distrust; findings being published in journals such the Bri$sh Journal of Management, Human Resource Management Journal, Interna$onal Small Business Journal and Social Science and Medicine. Mark’s books include Research Methods for Business Students (2023, Pearson) and the Handbook of Research Methods on Human Resource Development (2016, Edward Elgar), and he holds fellowships of the Academy of Social Sciences, the BriMsh Academy of Management and the First InternaMonal Network on Trust. Fariba Darabi ORCID 0000-0002-8191-9814 Fariba Darabi is a Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in Management at Bangor Business School, University of Bangor, Bangor, Wales, UK. Her research focusses on entrepreneurship, internaMonal business and research methodologies; findings being published in journals such as the Interna$onal Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour and Research and the European Journal of Training and Development. Fariba is an elected Council Member of the BriMsh Academy of Management, and Co-chair of their Research Methodology Special Interest Group. ABSTRACT This chapter outlines the nature of mulM- and mixed methods designs, demysMfying the array of names used to describe such designs and considering their pluralisMc nature and philosophical underpinnings. Following a brief consideraMon of the prevalence of mulM- method and mixed methods in employment relaMons research, deducMve and inducMve approaches are discussed. Examples of published employment relaMons research are used to illustrate mulM-method qualitaMve and quanMtaMve, concurrent triangulaMon and concurrent embedded mixed methods, as well as sequenMal exploratory and sequenMal explanatory mixed methods designs. These, along with a detailed vignece highlight their potenMal for enabling new insights, revealing how such mixed methods designs have been operaMonalised. The potenMal benefits, challenges and pidalls of using mixed methods, including the need for methodological fit, are then considered. The chapter concludes with a