Skip to main content
About the Program

Program Retreat

Our first retreat was held in Baltimore in June at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The following year, the annual retreat was held in Boston at the Harvard School of Public Health. This year the retreat will be held virtually from June 12-15, 2023.. The retreat is an opportunity for the Scholars and faculty to meet and to receive personal feedback on Scholar projects. 

More information on the retreat can be found in the process evaluation of the retreat.

Example schedule for Mixed Methods Research Training Program retreat

Day 1
Introduction to course objectives
Introduction of faculty and Scholars
Scholars briefly describe their project and goals
History of mixed methods research and recent advances
Steps in designing a mixed methods study
Rigorous quantitative and qualitative methods
Basic mixed methods designs 
Advanced mixed methods designs
Study aims and research questions
Points of integration:  data collection, analysis, inference
Day 2
Introduction to Day 2
Scholars present their project to small groups with feedback
Worldview and the role of theory 
Characteristics of qualitative research - some misconceptions
Qualitative interviewing and coding in data analysis 
Working on mixed methods teams 
Ethical issues in mixed methods research
Writing mixed methods proposals and publications
Best practices for NIH proposals
Day 3
Introduction to Day 3
Scholars present their project to small groups with feedback
Reviewing and evaluating mixed methods publications
Development and review of a training plan after summer course 
Immediate feedback about plan from Scholars
Adjourn
More Information

a. Seminar sessions: We draw on experience with courses at Harvard (Creswell and Deutsch) and Johns Hopkins (Gallo and Creswell) to present concepts of mixed methods research in interactive sessions. The didactic sessions will be based on materials circulated beforehand as well as the webinar held before the summer meeting. The pre-course webinar will allow the Scholars to get more out of the didactic sessions at the meeting and so that the sessions can be at a more advanced level targeted to the topic areas, proposals, and needs of the Scholars. The sessions will lay the groundwork for mixed methods research. Topics for presentation and discussion will include R-level grant writing strategy (framing aims, hypotheses, innovation, significance, impact, using pilot data effectively; describing and justifying research plans), responding to the summary statement, and publishing mixed methods research. These topics are modeled on the “master class” content of nine mixed methods for courses taught at Harvard and Johns Hopkins.

b. Small group presentations: Workgroups are organized by type of research (e.g., child services; implementation) so that Scholars with similar interests and skills are grouped together. We invite 3 of the consultants so that 3 groups can be formed, each with one consultant and one of the primary mentors (Gallo, Deutsch, or Creswell). Scholars orally present their projects to the workgroup for feedback and discussion. Each Scholar prepares a 10-15 minute presentation to be followed by 30 minutes for feedback addressing all aspects of the proposal's content (e.g., hypotheses when appropriate, rationale, design, analysis, responsible conduct of research). These discussions are framed by both the proposed research as well as the Scholar’s overall career trajectory, to strategize about what grant mechanism may be most appropriate and how to frame the mixed methods. At the end of their period, the Scholar will be asked to summarize the major points and identify an action plan for the rest of the day (e.g., speak to faculty or their consultant about specific idea; rework the hypotheses; etc.). On the last day, Scholars also present their training plan to support them after the meeting is over. The projects provide a concrete task to focus training in mixed methods, consistent with the principles of adult learning. Mixed methods are best learned through application to a specific area or problem rather than solely through abstract presentations of research design or methods.