As coordinators of the special issue “Mixed Methods and Triangulation in History Education Research” recently accepted by the “International Journal of Historical Learning, Teaching and Research” (IJHLTR 16.1, 2018), we invite you to propose a contribution to the special edition.

What will be published in the special edition?
1. Articles that report original research done in the area of history education with methodological approaches based on mixed methods or triangulation research designs
2. Articles that theoretically reflect on mixed methods and/or triangulation research designs applied in history education research.

Publication process
15.10.2017: Deadline for submission of abstracts
30.10.2017: Decision about which articles shall be realised
31.01.2018: Deadline for submission of articles
01.02.2018 – 28.02.2018:Peer review process
31.11.2018: Publication of IJHLTR 16.1

Mixed Methods and Triangulation in History Education Research
Starting in the 1980s, in social sciences the „third methodological movement “or “third paradigm” (Johnson & Onwuegbuzie 2004) has become a booming field of methodological and theoretical discussion in the last decades, initiating what is considered a „methodological revolution” by many authors (e.g. Tashakkori & Teddlie 2003). After fierce ‘paradigm wars’ (Gage 1989) between the methodological traditions of qualitative and quantitative research, in the 20th century, the new paradigm of mixed methods research attempts to overcome these “rigid methods identities” (Gorard 2004, 3) in favour of a pragmatic approach to research and knowledge production that focuses on “what is appropriate and ‘what works’ in relation to specific research questions and the contexts in which they are being asked” (Riazi & Candlin 2014, 139)

Mixed methods research has been defined as follows:
”Mixed methods research is the type of research in which a researcher or team of researchers combines elements of qualitative and quantitative research approaches (e.g., use of qualitative and quantitative viewpoints, data collection, analysis, inference techniques) for the broad purposes of breadth and depth of understanding and corroboration” (Johnson, Onwuegbuzie & Turner 2007, 123). Mixed methods research aims to maximise the strengths and minimise the weaknesses of qualitative and quantitative approaches.

The methodological concept of “triangulation” is older. It was originally defined as a possibility of corroboration and confirmation of results in the study of a social phenomenon and was conceived as a strategy of validation by using a second methodological approach. Denzin 1970/78 originally distinguished four different types of triangulation:
1) methodological triangulation – the use of different methodologies in a the study;
2) theory triangulation – the approach to data “with multiple perspectives and hypotheses in mind” (Denzin, 1970/1978, 297);
3) data triangulation – means the combination of data sources; and
4) investigator triangulation – different persons who do the research such as observations or interviews in order to control subjective biases.
Recently, Uwe Flick revisited the concept triangulation, also using the term “comprehensive triangulation” as a “framework” for doing mixed methods research (Flick 2016, 9).

The special issue – a contribution to sharpen the profile of history education research
Mixed methods research “represents nowadays a rapidly developing field of social science methodology” (Kelle 2006, 293) and is also well established in general educational research (Riazi &Candlin 2014; Alise & Teddlie 2010). Within the history education research community, however, there has not been much theoretical reflection about or conscious practical application of mixed methods research or triangulation designs. Thus, this special edition aims to stimulate the methodological discussion within the community and, in doing so, contribute to the sharpening and strengthening the discipline´s research profile. Recently it has been noted that for receiving competitive grants for research projects from funding agencies, a mixed methods research design is not only very helpful but has nearly become a precondition: “[…] this boom has led to expectations and requirements on the side of funding agencies that research in many fields should include a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods and a readiness to preferring such projects and proposals” (Flick 2016, 1).
History education research deals with many fine and complex concepts such as “historical consciousness”, “historical thinking”, “historical culture”, and “historical learning”, among others. The discipline therefore includes many different aspects of research in complex contexts. Mixed methods research and/or triangulation are conceived as ways to incorporate such complexity and to compensate for the methodological weaknesses of partial research approaches. Such designs seem to be used especially productively in the discipline of history education research.

Proposal of an abstract
Central questions that can be treated in a proposed article:
* Description of research design (research questions, methodology, data collection, evaluation, results)
* Description of combination and integration of methods/ methodology/ theories/ approaches/ investigators etc.
* Reflection on the value of combining different elements – how can/did the combination improve the results of the study?
* Insights and findings of research within history education that have been gained in a mixed methods or triangulation study.

Articles must take recent trends in methodological discussion into consideration and will only be accepted if they are rooted in the current discourse. Authors are asked to clearly define their concepts used. It is recommended to take the following papers into consideration:

Kelle, U. (2006) ‘Combining Qualitative and Quantitative Methods in Research Practice – Purposes and Advantages’, in: Gürtler, L., Huber, G. L. (eds.) Special Guest Issue on Mixed Methods. Qualitative Research in Psychology 3.4, 293-311.
Johnson, R.B., Onwuegbuzie, A.J., Turner, L.A: (2007) Toward a Definition of Mixed Methods Research. Journal of Mixed Methods Research 1.2, 112-133.
(available online https://study.sagepub.com/sites/default/files/Johnson_2007.pdf)

If you wish to contribute to the journal, please send an abstract of the article you want to propose with 500-600 words until the 15th of October to
Roland.Bernhard@gmail.com.

Journal information
IJHLTR is the peer reviewed international academic journal of the History Educators International Research Network – HEIRNET. The Historical Association of Great Britain - the HA - publishes IJHLTR.
The special issue is coordinated by Roland Bernhard, Christoph Kühberger and Christoph Bramann (Department of History, University of Salzburg).

Literature
Alise M. A., Teddlie C. (2010) A continuation of the paradigm wars? Prevalence rates of methodological approaches across the social/behavioral sciences. Journal of Mixed Methods Research 4.2, 2010, 103-126.
Denzin N. K. (1970/1989) The Research Act. A Theoretical Introduction to Sociological Methods. Chicago.
Flick U. (2016) Mantras and Myths: The Disenchantment of Mixed-Methods Research and Revisiting Triangulation as a Perspective. Qualitative Inquiry, 1-12.
Gage, N. (1989) The paradigm wars and their aftermath: a ‘historical’ sketch of research and teaching since 1989. Educational Researcher 18.7, 4-10.
Gorard S (2004) Combining Methods in Educational and Social Research. Glasgow.
Johnson R. B., Onwuegbuzie A. J. (2004) Mixed methods research: A research paradigm whose time has come. Educational Researcher 33.7, 2004, 14-26.
Johnson, R.B., Onwuegbuzie, A.J., Turner, L.A. (2007) Toward a Definition of Mixed Methods Research. Journal of Mixed Methods Research 1.2, 112-133.
Kelle, U. (2006) ‘Combining Qualitative and Quantitative Methods in Research Practice – Purposes and Advantages’, in: Gürtler, L., Huber, G. L. (eds.) Special Guest Issue on Mixed Methods. Qualitative Research in Psychology 3.4, 293-311.
Riazi A. M., Candlin C. N. (2014) Mixed-methods research in language teaching and learning: Opportunities, issues and challenges. Lang. Teach. 47.2, 135-173.
Tashakkori A., Teddlie C. (eds.) (2003) Handbook of mixed methods in social and behavioural research. London.