Carefully-selected SAGE Journal articles expand upon chapter material, and accompanying exercises offer practice in applying the concepts.

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Article 1: Shehzad, W. (2011). Outlining purposes, stating the nature of present research, and listing research questions or hypotheses in academic papers. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, 41(2), 139-160.

Summary: The objective must be clear. Before setting the scene in detail, one must answer the question: Why did you do the work and what is its purpose? Along with stating the purpose of the article, rationale for the study should be summarized.

Questions to Consider

1. What is the intent of your study? Try to summarize this into a single sentence or paragraph that readers can easily identify.
2. Does your purpose statement use words such as aim, goals, objectives, purpose to signal attention to the central controlling idea?

Article 2: Travers, M. (2014). Using ethnographic methods to strengthen quantitative data—Explaining juvenile detention rates in three Australian states. Bulletin de Methodologie Sociologique, 124, 66-76.

Summary: Those advocating mixed methods research have long believed that ethnographic methods can strengthen quantitative data.

Questions to Consider

1. Why did Travers (2014) decide to use a mixed methods approach? Was the purpose clear?
2. What are some strengths and challenges in creating a purpose statement for a mixed methods approach?