As lines between research paradigms continue to blur with the ever-increasing popularity of mixed methods research, there are useful, and occasionally oxymoronic, opportunities for educational researchers to juxtapose tools from opposing methods. The gold standard is just not possible in so much of what we do with small-scale research, nor is it always desirable. So what can we do? Are there new ways to think about research design, methods, and analyses across commonly understood boundaries that normally guide our favored modes of inquiry? Can we further develop ways to combine methodological principles across paradigms? The idea behind this talk is to look for ways we can use apparently contradictory ideas from quantitative and qualitative methodologies to move research forward.