Mixed methods in tension: lessons for and from the research process

Mixing methods helps environmental researchers to engage with the complexity present in the interconnected biophysical and social world. At the same time, tensions often arise as biophysical and social methods (and the results they yield) are put into conversation with one another. This chapter explores the productive tensions that researchers engage with when pursuing mixed methods environmental research. These include tensions around resolution and scale of analysis, epistemologies, values embedded in particular methods, and more. We argue that mixed methods approaches are valuable not in spite of the tensions they engender, but indeed because of these tensions, as they require a more reflexive research practice and in turn allow for a richer understanding of the world.