Teaching mixed methods: Using the Titanic datasets to teach mixed methods data analysis

Abstract

The Titanic quantitative dataset has long been used to teach statistics. However, combining the quantitative dataset with a qualitative dataset of survivor testimonies shows that the Titanic case is an even better example to teach mixed methods. This article offers practical tools to teach mixed methods to undergraduate or postgraduate students in the social sciences, using the Titanic datasets. Based on an empirical analysis of the survival probabilities on the Titanic, we show how mixed methods lead to superior explanations than mono-method strategies. This paper has two goals: 1) to introduce the freely available linked Titanic datasets; and 2) to present a three-hour step-by-step exercise with the Titanic datasets that can be used to learn and teach mixed methods.