The New Paradigm of Ethnic Minority Educational Research: Mixed Methods Research.
Qualitative research and quantitative research have their own advantages, so mixed use both to improve scientific research. Too many Chinese Ethnic Minority Educational Research in qualitative research, and few use quantitative research, leading the results with many subjective factors. The reason is that selecting ethnic minority educational research paradigm is based on the subject property-oriented, rather than a problem-oriented research, and the selection of ethnic minority educational research paradigms was too concern about minority culture, ignored its educational attribute. Mixed methods research as the "third methodological movement", it can not only integrate the advantages of qualitative research and quantitative research, and enhance the consciousness of problem-oriented of researchers, but also to improve the science of ethnic minority educational research and promote the development of this discipline. Keywords: ethnic minority educational research; mixed method research; minority culture; research paradigm Ethnic minority educational research, sharing dual natures of education and minority, people and culture have become an important factor in ethnic minority educational research, however, in the dispute of qualitative research and quantitative research, the ethnic minority educational research prefer the former. Causing it is difficult to go into the vision of ethnic minority educational researchers for the latter paradigm. Currently, the international education research be in a major shift in paradigm, the estrangement of qualitative research and quantitative research gradually digestion. Instead, the mixed methods research is rising in educational research as "The Third Paradigm" and affecting it in a large part. 1. The rise of mixed method research From a methodological point of view, there was a heated argument between the quantitative research which is base on theory of positivism, empiricism and the qualitative research which is base on theory of phenomenology, constructivism and interpretivism in the United States last century. (1) As a result, mixed methods research emerged in the process of trying to reconcile the quantitative research and the qualitative research. Since the 20th century, notable achievements of the natural sciences to consolidate the status of scientism in various fields, the mathematical logic analysis was also prevalent in educational research, to get the conclusion of "objectivity" and "science." Before the 1960s, the quantitative research in the field of social science research was popular in the United States. The positivist believed that the objective fact of the existence governed by the laws of nature on ontology, so they emphasized the objective on epistemology, and believed that it is likely to get the conclusions of "value-free" (Note: can be translated as "irrelevant to value"). After the 1960s, the quantitative research and its philosophical foundation suffered criticism in the field of education. Further more, the anthropological methods is widely used in the social sciences, the position of qualitative research in educational research began to highlight. The phenomenology, constructivism and intepretivism are totally different from positivism and empiricism on ontology and epistemology. The former believed that there are different subjective facts exist in everyone's psychological structure and the meaning construction is also different among different people in a same study on ontology; and the former emphasized on human subjective participate in the study, every social science researchers have mingled with the values in their study on epistemology. Since the theoretical basis of qualitative research and quantitative research is diametrically opposed, the researchers produced a tendency in the choice of one or the other when they choosing the methods, and only used a single method paradigm in a single study. (2) Because the researchers used alone quantitative research or qualitative research, it is limited to enhance the quality of educational research; the two paradigms have their own limitations, the researchers are not conducive to find the essence hidden behind the education problem, thereby affecting the practical problems of education to be solved. Based on this, some researchers believe that quantitative research and qualitative research can be used together and committed to the integration and exchange of two paradigms, Johnson and B. Onwuegbzie are clearly present the mixed methods research as the third paradigm, to build a bridge between the two. (3) They defined the mixed methods research as a type of research where researcher mixes or combines qualitative and quantitative research techniques, approaches, concepts or languages into a single study. (4)