Enhancement of research possibilities. In situations where you have multiple objectives to
achieve in a research study and if not all the objectives lend themselves to be explored with one
method, use of multiple methods offers a way to find answers to all your research questions. For
instance, in the example in Figure 1.4, subobjective 2 has two dimensions, ‘nature’ and ‘extent’.
These two concepts require different methodologies. ‘Nature’ can be explored more richly through
qualitative methods, whereas ‘extent’ is better explored through quantitative methods as it
involves counting the number of households with occurrence of domestic violence. Similarly, suppose
you want to ascertain the prevalence of drug use in a community and the process of becoming
a drug addict. The first part you can investigate through a number of methods such as
structured interviewing or a questionnaire, but the second part is best investigated by unstructured
and in-depth interviewing. Thus, the use of mixed/multiple methods approach enhances the
research possibilities within the framework of a study.