Mixed‑Methods Triage: Coalescing Holistic Perspectives for a More Diverse and Inclusive Academy

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to identify an unspoken bias embedded within the academy, and to present a new paradigm for social science research that disrupts traditional graduate school indoctrination and knowledge mobilization practices in favor of a more inclusive academy. First, I tease apart the dogmatic camp‑building perpetuated by those who have learned to socialize a value for their own philosophical paradigms by discrediting others. I then suggest that research from different philosophical paradigms, but on the same phenomenon, can be presented together; and, that sense‑making of such findings need not reside in the academy, but instead, in the community of readers seeking to understand a complex phenomenon. Through my own story, I share a case of systemic dysfunction within traditional academic publication that acted as a barrier to my own knowledge mobilization. This inspired an alternative approach to dissemination that I call mixed methods triage: knowledge mobilization that juxtaposes different studies on a common phenomenon, regardless of philosophical alignment, and presents them to the reader as they are without converging or making sense of the findings as a whole. I identify three tenets for this approach, and propose triage as a potential platform for a more diverse and inclusive academy. Ultimately, mixed‑methods triage aligns with and expands pragmatic, mixed‑methods research and contributes to the emerging trend of interdisciplinary scholarship.