Mixed Methods in Body and Embodiment Research

Abstract

This chapter outlines the foundations of mixed methods research and discusses several examples of mixed methods research in the sociology of the body and embodiment. It begins with a brief history of mixed methods and conceptualizations of this term. To illustrate mixed methods in practice, including its benefits, drawbacks, and relevance to intersectionality research, the authors discuss the first author’s research on body weight, as well as a study about young women’s contraceptive use and a study about nude embodiment. The chapter concludes by discussing the future of mixed methods for sociologists of the body and embodiment, maintaining that mixed methods would serve well scholars who desire to understand embodiment-related trends in a population, as well as experiences of lived embodiment.