The emergence of mixing methods in the field of evaluation

When and how did the contemporary practice of mixing methods in social inquiry get started? What events transpired to catalyze the explosive conceptual development and practical adoption of mixed methods social inquiry over recent decades? How has this development progressed? What "next steps" would be most constructive? These questions are engaged in this personally narrative account of the beginnings of the contemporary mixed methods phenomenon in the field of evaluation from the perspective of a methodologist who was there.