Software as a facilitator of quality processes in Social Sciences research

The objective of this work is to evaluate the strategy of triangulation in the validation of information by integrating quantitative/qualitative information based on the use of different statistics software packages In our case, we opted to begin with a quantitative strategy and use IBM SPSS AMOS Statistics; we then replicated the study with a qualitative strategy using NVIVO. To this end, we used as an example case a study conducted on a sample of 445 university teaching personnel regarding intentions to use the blended learning teaching model in their usual teaching practice. We did so to analyse the extent to which it is possible to explain the process of adopting this educational method as well as its use and its dissemination in higher-education contexts, taking as a theoretical reference the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology and the Theory of Diffusion of Innovation, proposed by E. Rogers. The analyses carried out verified the convergence or overlap of the results obtained after the application of different methods of data collection (a questionnaire and interviews) for the same study object. The results confirm the benefit of using data-processing software as a resource to facilitate multimethod strategies in educational research owing to its strengthening of results and the examination of the level of convergence or divergences within them.