A Qualitative-Only, Joint Display-Facilitated Reverse Logic Analysis in Education

Traditionally, mixed method joint displays are an analytic tool for researchers to visually integrate qualitative and quantitative datasets so they can generate meta-inferences. However, there is also an underexplored utility for integrating qualitative datasets. To demonstrate this utility, we exhibit a qualitative-only, joint display-facilitated reverse logic analysis in the context of educational program evaluation. Specifically, our reverse logic analysis provides new insights to improve the impact logic of individualized education programs. We define the qualitative-only joint display, clarify its methodological boundaries, explore its limited prior applications through a systematic literature review, and detail an innovative demonstration of its utility. Implications for practice include outlining a replicable process of qualitative-only joint display data integration, a proposal for a reconceptualized impact logic of an individualized education program, and our argument for including this type of joint display in Svoboda and Guetterman’s (2023) typology.

Jeffrey Cerveny, M.Ed – Principal, University of Oregon; Michael Thier, PhD – University of Oregon