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Improving Aging and Public Health Research: Qualitative and Mixed Methods
New book explores effective research methods in identifying health
issues for aging Americans…Improving aging and public health
research: Qualitative and mixed methods
WASHINGTON, Nov. 28 /U.S. Newswire/ -- As the number of Americans
ages 65 and older rises, researchers seek ways to better design,
conduct and publish scientifically sound research on the nation's
aging population.
Qualitative research, such as focus groups, interviews and
observations, is instrumental in the fields of gerontology and
public health in identifying health disparities among older
Americans.
The best methods for conducting qualitative studies,
including developing research questions, strategies for
design and analysis, concerns of cultural literacy, issues
of validity and credibility and effective writing for
scientific journals are explored in "Improving Aging and
Public Health Research: Qualitative and Mixed Methods,"
published by the American Public Health Association (APHA).
The book's co-editors are: Leslie Curry, Ph.D., an associate
professor at Center on Aging at the University of Connecticut School
of Medicine; Renée Shield, Ph.D., a clinical associate professor of
community health at the Center for Gerontology and Health Care
Research at Brown University in Providence, R.I. and Terrie Wetle,
associate dean of medicine for public health and public policy at
Brown University.
Together with their contributors, they consider how to pursue issues
of public health and aging by exploring the value of qualitative
research in its own right and in combination with other
information-gathering methods, including quantitative approaches
based on large data sets and statistical measurements.
Improving Aging and Public Health Research: Qualitative and Mixed
Methods provides insights from a group of highly diverse research
scientists who offer guidance about how to conceive, conduct and
publish research and gain a deeper understanding of people's
beliefs, behaviors and health conditions.
"The complexity of (our world) does not reduce to numbers easily and
deep understanding requires the use of qualitative methods to help
illuminate what the numbers mean," said Shield, one of the book's
editors.
Among the book's tools for researchers is advice on how to determine
the right methods for the research question; write compelling grant
applications; choose and use software for data analysis and
transform findings into publications in leading peer reviewed
journals.
"This book combines theoretical contexts and practical
considerations in a refreshingly useful manner," wrote Charles F.
Longino, Jr., PhD, president of the Gerontological Society of
America and professor of sociology and public health sciences at
Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C. “At the same time,
(the book) candidly describes the challenges and pitfalls
experienced in qualitative and mixed methods research. It teaches
how to put a human face on research findings.”
