This article discusses some procedu

This article discusses some procedural issues related to the mixed-methods sequential
explanatory design, which implies collecting and analyzing quantitative and then
qualitative data in two consecutive phases within one study. Such issues include deciding
on the priority or weight given to the quantitative and qualitative data collection
and analysis in the study, the sequence of the data collection and analysis, and
the stage/stages in the research process at which the quantitative and qualitative
data are connected and the results are integrated. The article provides a methodological
overview of priority, implementation, and mixing in the sequential explanatory
design and offers some practical guidance in addressing those issues. It also
outlines the steps for graphically representing the procedures in a mixed-methods
study. A mixed-methods sequential explanatory study of doctoral students’ persistence
in a distance-learning program in educational leadership is used to illustrate
the methodological discussion.