Critical Race Theory and Mixed Methods in Educational Research: A Scoping Review

Abstract

As educational researchers respond to the current debate around critical race theory (CRT) playing out in legislation across the United States, the debate is challenging mixed methods researchers to imagine new ways of conducting inquiry. In this scoping review, we examine current educational research that uses both a CRT theoretical framework and a mixed methods research (MMR) design to demonstrate the potential that a combined approach must leverage participants’ voices and experiential knowledge to provide more concrete ways in which institutions might challenge dominant ideologies and adopt a more transformative stance. We found that when researchers were able to both purposefully (and indistinguishably) integrate CRT within the MMR design (Hammersley, 2018) and highlight the underlying distinctions between quantitative and qualitative in their methodological choices (Morgan, 2018), they advanced the field by providing richer, more detailed road maps for dismantling systemic inequities. Our findings expose the ways in which well-defined, intentional methodological approaches more fully embrace praxis to foster more equitable outcomes.