An Examination of Research Methods in Mathematics Education (1995-2005) Lynn C. Hart Stephanie Z. Smith Susan L. Swars Georgia State University, Atlanta Marvin E. Smith Kennesaw State University, Georgia This mixed methods examination of 710 research articles in mathematics education published in six prominent educational journals during the period 1995-2005 finds that 50% of the studies used qualitative methods only, 21% used quantitative methods only, and 29% mixed qualitative and quantitative methods in various ways. Although the number of mixed methods articles show some variation year to year and journal to journal, there is no discern- ible trend in the aggregate across this time period for the collection of journals studied. Issues explored include defining research categories and subsequently categorizing studies, balance and dominance between quantitative and qualitative strands, and integration within conclusions. Keywords: mixed methods; research methods; mathematics education I n the first volume of Journal of Mixed Methods Research (JMMR), Creswell and Tashakkori indicate in their editorial that the literature about mixed methods research ‘‘may not be well known to individuals in specific discipline fields’’ (2007, p. 109). This observation was quite accurate for our group of researchers in elementary mathematics education at the time we read with great interest Johnson and Onwuegbuzie’s 2004 Edu- cational Researcher article ‘‘Mixed Methods Research: A Research Paradigm Whose Time Has Come.’’ Their description of mixed methods research increased our awareness of the value of mixed methods approaches in educational research and contrasted sharply with our then current perspectives on research paradigms and methodologies. Silver (2004) claims that in the discipline of mathematics education, researchers have ‘‘erected a monument to qualitative research methods and non-experimental modes of inquiry’’ (p. 154) during the past few decades. Although this qualitative focus accounts for significant advances in our field, for the past several years politicians, policy makers, and significant funding agencies in the United States have been calling for evidence-based educational practices and scientific inquiry that provides more widely generalizeable results, typically involving quantitative methods (National Council of Teachers of Mathe- matics Research Advisory Committee, 2003). Journal of Mixed Methods Research Volume 3 Number 1 January 2009 26-41  2009 Sage Publications 10.1177/1558689808325771 http://jmmr.sagepub.com hosted at http://online.sagepub.com Authors’ Note: Please address correspondence to Lynn C. Hart, Department of Early Childhood Education, Georgia State University, P.O. Box 3978, Atlanta, GA 30302; e-mail: lhart@gsu.edu. 26 at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10, 2016 mmr.sagepub.com Downloaded from