Researching sensitively without sensitizing: Using a card sort in a concurrent mixed method design

Researchers exploring sensitive issues need to obtain valid and reliable information. This may necessitate participants not being sensitised to the precise research focus to prevent contamination of findings. In this paper research exploring trust and distrust judgements and emotional responses to organizational change is used to assess how a concurrent mixed methods design, utilizing a constrained card sort and in-depth interview, can enable such sensitive issues to be researched without sensitizing participants. This illustrative example provides instructive guidance regarding how to apply this mixed method. It also reveals how trust and distrust judgements and emotional responses are directly associated with positively and negatively interpreted change situations rather than misappropriated, highlighting reasons for these responses including the role of managers. The paper concludes with a discussion regarding how this mixed methods design can support researching such sensitive issues in organizations.