Multiphase or Iterative Designs

Multiphase or iterative mixed methods designs incorporate a series of qualitative and quantitative studies (three or more), comprising multiple sequential or concurrent designs. Typically, multiphase studies have a longer design arc than typical sequential or concurrent studies. For example, a Qual-Quant-Qual multiphase study is comprised of a qualitative study informing a quantitative survey (i.e., exploratory design), followed by a second qualitative design used to explain the quantitative findings (i.e., explanatory design).