I mixed methods e la valutazione: un’analisi tramite Structural Topic Model

This paper aims to contribute to the understanding of the relationship between the mixed methods approach and the evaluation field, with an overall look at the international social science area. Analysing a set of papers that make use of mixed methods, a reflection on the prevalence of the evaluation field is presented. Text analysis through the Structural Topic Model (STM) technique allows to extract topics from a corpus of documents. Findings show how the evaluation filed has a relevant role within the area of studies that use a mixed methods approach. Evaluation emerges indeed as a topic itself. Moreover, relationships among evaluation and other disciplinary fields wherein mixed methods are used can be highlighted. The overview presented in this study allows to look at trends within the mixed methods approach in social science and within evaluation, as well as intersections between the two areas.