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The importance of understanding mixed methods

international

Earlier this week ResearchGate alerted us that the paper ‘The Growing Importance of Mixed-Methods Research in Health‘ has been read 900 times on that platform [1].  This methods paper focuses on  the growing importance of mixed-methods research to a wide range of health disciplines ranging from nursing to epidemiology.

Mixed-methods approaches requires not only the skills of the individual quantitative and qualitative methods but also a skill set to bring two methods/datasets/findings together in the most appropriate way. Health researchers need to pay careful attention to the ‘best’ approach to designing, implementing, analysing, integrating both quantitative (number) and qualitative (word) information and writing this up in a way that enhances its applicability and broadens the evidence-based practice. This paper highlights the strengths and weaknesses of mixed-methods approaches as well as some of the common mistakes made by researchers applying mixed-methods for the first time.

Our team in the Centre for Midwifery & Women’s Health (CMWH) has written several other methods papers on the importance of mixed-methods research in community-based health studies [2-5].  We have, of course, conducted and published many mixed-methods studies over the past two decades [see for example 6-10].

 

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

 

 

References:

  1. Wasti, S. P., Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E., Sathian, B., & Banerjee, I. (2022). The Growing Importance of Mixed-Methods Research in Health . Nepal Journal of Epidemiology, 12(1), 1175–1178.
  2. Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E., Wasti, S.P., Sathian, B. (2014) Mixed-methods approaches in health research in Nepal, Nepal Journal of Epidemiology 4(5): 415-416.
  3. Mahato, P., Angell, C., van Teijlingen, E., Simkhada, P. (2018) Using Mixed-methods Research in Health & Education in Nepal, Journal of Health Promotion 6: 45-8.
  4. Harvey, O., van Teijlingen, E., Parrish, M. (2022) Mixed-methods research on androgen abuse – a review, Current Opinion in Endocrinology & Diabetes 29(6):586-593.
  5. MacKenzie Bryers, H., van Teijlingen, E. Pitchforth, E. (2014) Advocating mixed-methods approaches in health research, Nepal Journal of Epidemiology 4(5): 417-422. http://www.nepjol.info/index.php/NJE/article/view/12018/9768
  6. Pitchforth, E, Watson, V, Tucker, J, Ryan, M, van Teijlingen E, Farmer, J, Ireland, J, Thomson, E, Kiger, A , Bryers, H. (2008) Models of intrapartum care and women’s trade-offs in remote and rural Scotland: A mixed-methods study BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, 115(5): 560-569.
  7. Wasti, SP, Simkhada, P., Randall, J, van Teijlingen, E, Freeman, J. (2012) Factors influencing adherence to antiretroviral treatment in Nepal: a mixed-methods study. PLoS ONE 7(5): e35547. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0035547.
  8. Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E., Devkota, B., Pathak, RS, Sathian, B. (2014) Accessing research literature: A mixed-method study of academics in Higher Education Institutions in Nepal, Nepal Journal of Epidemiology 4(4): 405-14.
  9. Dost, S., Arnold, R., van Teijlingen, E. (2023) Management capacity in the Afghan Ministry of Public Health pre-Taliban: A mixed-methods study of political and socio-cultural issues, Razi International Medical Journal, 3(1): 9–18
  10. Sharma, S., van Teijlingen, E, Hundley, V., Stephens J., Simkhada, P., Angell, C., Sicuri, E., Belizan, J.M. (2013) Mixed-methods evaluation of maternity care intervention in rural Nepal: measuring what works, Poster P.2.3.004(A), Tropical Medicine & International Health 18(Suppl. 1): 183-184.

Postgraduate Research Summer Social – TICKETS ON SALE

PG research

Tickets are now on sale! The Doctoral College is hosting the Summer Social for the Postgraduate Research community at the delightful Branksome Dene Room. Situated in a stunning location that overlooks the beach, with amazing views of the sea to Old Harry Rocks.

We’ve booked this unique location for the exclusive use of PGRs and Supervisors for the afternoon to unwind and catch up with your fellow researchers and academics.

The Doctoral College PGR events at Branksome Dene Room are always a huge success so we hope you can make it.

We are pleased to offer a BBQ style lunch menu including sausages and burgers (vegetarian/vegan options available), a salad bar, teas, coffees and mocktails! You are also welcome to bring your own refreshments to enjoy.

Booking and event details can be found here.

Ticket: £5

If you have any questions, please do get in touch:

Arabella Moyse [Doctoral College Marketing & Events Coordinator]

DoctoralCollege@bournemouth.ac.uk

Twitter: @BUDocCollege | #BUDoctoralCollege

Research Ethics Panel Meetings – A Reminder for Staff and Postgraduate Researchers

Research Ethics, Research Ethics Panels

Research Ethics

There are no central Research Ethics Panel (REP) meetings held during August, so if you’re hoping to start data collection activities over the summer and are in the process of completing your research ethics checklist, please keep this in mind when planning your research activities.  Submit your checklist in time for the final REP meetings to be held in June and July.  Checklists received during August which need to be reviewed by a full Panel will be deferred until September (dates to be advised).

REPs review all staff projects and postgraduate research projects which have been identified as high risk through the online ethics checklist.  Details on what constitutes high risk can be found on the research governance, research ethics & integrity website.

There are two central REPs:

  • Science, Technology & Health
  • Social Sciences & Humanities

 

Staff and PGR ‘high risk’ projects will be reviewed by one of the central REPs and Researchers (including PGR Supervisors) will normally be invited to Panel for discussions.

Staff Projects which are ‘low risk’

Reviews for low risk projects will continue as normal during August (via email), although turnaround may take longer than normal due to Reviewer availability during this month.

PGR Projects which are ‘low risk’

There are no changes to the review process for low risk PGR projects and reviews will continues as normal throughout August, again subject to the availability of Supervisor and assigned Ethics Champions.

More details about the review process and REP meeting dates can be found on the governance, research ethics & integrity website.  Email enquiries should be sent to researchethics@bournemouth.ac.uk.

RKEDF: Writing Academy 18th/19th/20th June 2024

Training, writing

This 3-day workshop covers strategies for academic writing: targeting a journal, writing to prompts, types of prompt for academic writing, ‘snack’ writing, goal-setting for writing, freewriting, generative writing, analysing academic writing in your field, criteria, writing an abstract, using prompts in series, outlining, dealing with reviewers’ feedback, writing groups, micro-groups and retreats. Many of these can be used in preparing for a concentrated spell of writing at a writing retreat.

This is a practical workshop. The aim of the writing activities in this workshop is to let you try these strategies and consider how/if/where they can fit in your writing practice. We also discuss how they can be used for writing theses, articles and other writing. They also let you start and work on your writing project during the workshop.

This workshop will be delivered remotely by the facilitator however attendees will participant in person. It involves several short writing activities, all designed to help you develop your paper/chapter/thesis and use productive, healthy writing habits. By signing up to this course you agree to do the writing tasks and to talk about your writing in small-group discussions, to give and receive feedback on this writing and to discuss your writing plans and goals.

You can find the programme here.  Please note, participants are required to attend all three days of the Writing Academy sessions. Refreshments and lunch will be provided on all three days.

To book a place on this workshop please complete the Booking Form.

For any specific queries regarding this workshop please email rkedf@bournemouth.ac.uk

Workshop Date Time Location
Writing Academy: Day 1 – Workshop Tuesday, 18 June 2024 10.00 – 16.00 Talbot Campus (facilitator will be online)
Writing Academy: Day 2 – Writing retreat Wednesday, 19 June 2024 9:00 – 16.00 Talbot Campus (facilitator will be online)
Writing Academy: Day 3 – Writing day Thursday 20 June 2024 9:00 – 16.00 Talbot Campus

Communication, Cultural and Media Studies, Library and Information Management academics – would you like to get more involved in preparing our next REF submission?

REF Subjects, Research assessment

We are currently recruiting for a Practice-Based Research Output Champion to help support preparation for our next REF Submission to Communication, Cultural and Media Studies, Library and Information Management (UoA34).

The deadline for expressions of interest is 21st June 2024. 

This role is recruited through an open and transparent process, which gives all academic staff the opportunity to put themselves forward. Applications from underrepresented groups (e.g. minority ethnic, declared disability) are particularly welcome.

We are currently preparing submissions to thirteen units (otherwise known as UOAs). Each unit has a leadership team with at least one leader, an output and impact champion. The leadership team are supported by a panel of reviewers who assess the research from the unit. This includes research outputs (journal articles, book chapters, digital artefacts and conference proceedings) and impact case studies. We currently have vacancies in the following roles:

Practice-Based Research Output Champion – UOA34: Communication, Cultural and Media Studies, Library and Information Management

All roles require a level of commitment which is recognised accordingly with time to review, attend meetings, and take responsibility for tasks.

Undertaking a UOA role can be enjoyable and rewarding as two of our current champions testify:

“As UOA Outputs Champion you develop a detailed knowledge of all the great work that colleagues are doing related to the subject, and the different outlets used for disseminating their work.  As an outputs committee member, you also get to know what research is going on across BU, and it’s interesting to see the differences between disciplines.  It’s a good way develop your knowledge of the bigger picture of BU’s research, and also to understand the importance of REF and how it works in practice.  You do spend quite a bit of time chasing colleagues to put their outputs on BRIAN for REF compliance but hopefully they forgive you!”

Professor Adele Ladkin – UOA 24 Output Champion

“As a UoA 17 impact champion, I work closely with the UoA 17 impact team to encourage the development of a culture of impact across BUBS. I try to pop into Department / research group meetings when I can to discuss impact, and I’ve enjoyed meeting people with a whole range of research interests. Sometimes it can be tough to engage people with impact – understandably; everyone is busy – so it’s important to be enthusiastic about the need for our BU research to reach the public. Overall, the role is about planting the seeds to get researchers thinking about the impact their work might have in the future (as well as the impact they have already had, sometimes without realising!)”

Dr Rafaelle Nicholson – UOA 17 Impact Champion

How to apply

All those interested should put forward a short case (suggested length of one page) as to why they are interested in the role and what they think they could bring to it. These should be clearly marked with the relevant role and unit and emailed to ref@bournemouth.ac.uk by 5pm on 21st June 2024.

Further detail on the role and the process of recruitment and selection criteria can be found here:

Role descriptor

Process and criteria for selection

For further information please contact ref@bournemouth.ac.uk, a member of the current UOA Team or your Deputy Dean Research and Professional Practice with queries.

RDP Masterclass in Productive Writing: Techniques, Planning, Finishing

Training

         

RDP Masterclass in Productive Writing – Wednesday 5th June – 14:00 – 17:00 – Online.

Facilitator: Dr Joanna Young

Session Summary:

How do you initiate the writing process when faced with only a blank page or a cursor incessantly blinking on the screen? Effective written communication is an essential part of academia and researchers are required to write a variety of documents including proposals, theses, papers for publication, grant proposals and books. Scholarly writing projects involve planning, drafting & redrafting, setting deadlines and collaboration.

This workshop will focus on how to start writing, how to keep going and how to finish. We will cover initiating and managing a manuscript, structure, productive writing techniques and a short introduction to new collaborative writing tools. Participants will be encouraged to consider where writing can fit into their schedule and what works best for them.

The workshop will include writing exercises, advice on making writing part of your working routine and a short section on dealing with and providing feedback.

Please book your place via the link here.

Getting in touch:

If you have any questions about this specific session or the Doctoral College Researcher Development Programme, please feel free to contact Enrica or Arabella in your Researcher Development team, as we are always happy to help: pgrskillsdevelopment@bournemouth.ac.uk.

RKEDF: AHRC and ESRC – How to write an application in the New Format

Funding opportunities, Training

‘How to write an application in the new format for the Funding Service’

Friday 14th June and Thursday 4th July 2024 – 11:00 – 13:00 – Online

These sessions are aimed at to all interested in finding out about the new funding service, from ECRs to Professors.

The session will cover the requirements for the new UKRI application format. We will discuss the application structure focusing on AHRC and ESRC and the sections and how to complete them. The session will be framed with more general information on the various Research Councils that comprise UKRI and best practice in writing applications for external research funding.

Outcomes:

  • Understanding of the new application format and how to write the sections within it
  • Understanding of AHRC and ESRC

General understanding of best practice for writing an application for external funding.

The facilitator for this event is Sally Baggott – Find out more here.

Book your place here under ‘AHRC & ESRC – How to write an application in the new format for the funding service’ and select either: 14/06/ 2024 or 04/07/2024’ in the drop-down menu.

For any queries regarding this workshop, please contact RKE Dev Framework 

🌟Exciting News in Complex Networks Research🌟

conferences, international, Women's Academic Network

I am thrilled to share that I have been honoured to receive the Scholarship for Events on Complex Systems (SECS) from the Young Researchers of the Complex Systems Society (yrCSS). This prestigious award will allow me to attend the upcoming Complex Networks 2024 conference in Istanbul, Turkey from December 10-12, 2024.

          

My PhD research focuses on “Complex Urban Road Networks: Static Structures and Dynamic Processes”, exploring the intricate dynamics of urban transportation systems. This field has always sparked my curiosity, and I am eager to delve deeper into this complex interplay of structures and dynamics.

In addition to this incredible opportunity, I am also a finalist in the multi-modal category of the TRA Vision Young Researchers 2024 Competition with my research project “Transport Capacity Planning for Mega-events”. It is truly humbling to be recognised for my work in this competitive arena.

I am grateful for the guidance and support of my PhD supervisor, Dr. Wei Koong Chai, whose expertise and mentorship have been invaluable throughout my research journey. I am excited about the upcoming conference, where I hope to further contribute to the field of complex networks research. Thank you for joining me on this incredible academic adventure!

Best wishes,

Assemgul Kozhabek

🌐🔬 #ComplexSystems #ComplexNetworks

See yrCSS: https://yrcss.cssociety.org/

Complex Networks 2024 conference: https://complexnetworks.org/

Resilience, Advocacy and Wellbeing: Voices from the Frontline

conferences





On the 17.05.24 Tilia Lenz, Senior Lecturer presented her research project ‘Reclaiming Resilience- voices from the frontline’ to the UCU Equality Research conference in Manchester. The hybrid conference was open to all and free to attend, attracting 250 delegates.

Resilience, Advocacy and Wellbeing- RAW is a CPD (Continues Professional Development) unit at Bournemouth University. In 2022 Tilia and Dr Rejoice Chipuriro facilitated an action research session (Susman and Evered 1978; Watkins et al. 2019) with 18 students to conceptualize and subsequently Reclaim Resilience! All participants were female and in leadership roles in Health and Social Care, seeking to learn more about RAW. The topic was important to them in practice, despite or because of the inequalities they were exposed to. This word cloud represents their physical and psychological symptoms of stress.



They reflected on their personal circumstances as woman with caring responsibilities and ‘of a certain age’- meaning 30s and 50s. Whilst the women were employed in England, half were of black or ethnic global majority and/or had an international background.

We concluded that those who are less likely to be discriminated against, due to gender, age, health, race and so on, do not find the topic of RAW relevant to them. In fact, it is those in positions of power who create the narrative that individuals are not ‘resilient enough’ and question performance as Galpin (2019) considers.

The themes we identified through the action research were clearly gendered, pointing out women’s health issues during the stages of menopause and the complexities for women with a migration or ethnic global majority background. It signified the inequality of gender and background of our participants within their perceived positions of power in their leadership roles. Tilia collaborated with the cartoonist Harry Venning to create a version of his well-known character Clare in the community, visualising the research findings.



The group challenged the politicisation of the term resilience through their reflective contributions, stories and shared experiences (Phillips and Bunda 2018) of prejudice due to gender, health and race.

Through Appreciative Inquiry (McArthur-Blair and Cockell 2018; Watkins et al. 2019; Arnold et al. 2022) and positive questioning about what could be, rather than focusing on the problem, the group was then empowered to consider actions as individuals and as leaders. They defined what RAW meant to them in their personal and professional lives, defining who practice in health and social care could be made safer through compassionate leadership and organisational cultures of kindness.

New guide to Practice-Based Research published today!

student research

Book cover image with title, subtitle, author. Background is variegated orange, with the white outline of a human figure holding an upside-down light bulb.Designing and Conducting Practice-Based Research Projects: A Practical Guide for Arts Student Researchers by Bournemouth University Associate Professor Lyle Skains is available from today.

The book is aimed primarily at upper undergraduate and Master’s students undertaking practice-based research in the arts, though it is also suitable for PhD candidates and researchers and supervisors new to practice-based research projects.

The discussion starts with definitions and a brief background to practice-related research in the arts and contextualization of practice-based methods within that frame. The bulk of the text is a step-by-step approach to designing, conducting, and writing-up practice-based research projects; each step is supplemented with examples of practice-related research, exercises for progressing methods design and evaluating research approach, and lists for further reading.

Designing and Conducting Practice-Based Research Projects has been requested and should soon be available through the Bournemouth University Library.

New Book published by BU academics on Building Communities of Practice in HE

This book edited by Dr Camila Devis-Rozental and Susanne Clarke explores how Communities of Practice can be an effective tool for supporting successful collaboration, whilst also creating the foundations for institutional change whilst championing a human-centred approach. The book was inspired by a project funded by The Organisational Development in Higher Education Network ODHE titled: Communities of Practice, Putting the heart back into Higher Education: reconnecting and learning from HE Communities of Practice to enable hybrid ways of working. 

Supported by both practical case studies and current research, this transdisciplinary book examines CoPs through a variety of critical lenses encouraging readers to consider CoPs within their own institutions to enable teamwork, a sense of belonging and community building. The chapter’s authors suggest strategies that readers can implement to create their own effective communities of practice.

The book includes chapters on Humanising practice, Cultivating knowledge, Interdisciplinary collaboration, Breaking down silos, Enabling organisational change, co-production championing social justice, enabling transformation and more. You can find the book here

Interdisciplinary Computational and Clinical Approaches at the Edge of Brain Research

BRIAN, NHS, PG research

We cordially invite you to the 3rd Symposium of the BU Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Research Centre on Wednesday, the 12th of June 2024, from 9:30-13:00 at the Inspire Lecture Theatre, Fusion Building (1st floor).

The symposium is entitled: “Interdisciplinary Computational and Clinical Approaches at the Edge of Brain Research”.

This third symposium revolves around contrasting computational and translational methodologies from a cross-disciplinary standpoint, leveraging synergies between BU and our collaborators in other universities and at the NHS. It is an opportunity for informal discussions on grant proposals and to explore shared interests with our external guests. 

The schedule is as follows:

9:00-9:15. Welcome and Coffee. 

9:30. Keynote talk: Prof. Dr Miguel Maravall (School of Life Sciences, Sussex Neuroscience Centre of Excellence, Sussex University): “What is the function of sensory cortex in a world full of actions? From sensory maps to task-directed responses”. The speaker will be on the screen. 

10.20-10:40. Coffee and Discussions.

10:40-11:40. Session I. Integrating Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience.

  • Michal Gnacek (Emteq Labs, Brighton and Centre for Digital Entertainment, BU): “Affect Recognition in Virtual Reality using Physiological Signals and Machine Learning”. The speaker will be on the screen.
  • Dr Matteo Toscani (Department of Psychology, BU): “Unsupervised learning of haptic material properties”.
  • Dr Géza Gergely Ambrus (Department of Psychology, BU): “Investigating Face Perception Using Cross-Experiment Multivariate Pattern Analysis of Neural Time-Series Data”.

11.40 -12.00. Coffee and Discussions.

12.00-13:00. Session II. Interdisciplinary Clinical Approaches and Closing Remarks.

  • Prof. Dr Jonathan Cole (University Hospital Dorset, NHS): “Perception and action; Observations from congenital and acquired deafferentation”.
  • Prof. Dr Caroline Edmonds (Department of Psychological Sciences, University of East London): ”Real-life implications arise from co-occurring memory impairments in children with neonatal hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy”.
  • Prof Dr Birgit Gurr (Community Brain Injury and Adult Neuropsychology Services Dorset at Dorset HealthCare University, NHS) and Dr Ellen Seiss (Department of Psychology, BU). “An initial evaluation of the Dynamic Information Processing Programme”.

If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact Ellen Seiss, eseiss@bournemouth.ac.uk or Emili Balaguer-Ballester, eb-ballester@bournemouth.ac.uk. Feel free to forward this information to any colleague or student who may be interested. 

Thank you very much, and we are looking forward to seeing you there.

Kind regards,

Ellen and Emili, on behalf of all of us.

 

BU academic listed on Research.com

international, Publishing, writing

Research.com, a leading academic platform for researchers, has just released its 2024 Edition of the Ranking of Best Scientists in the field of Social Sciences and Humanities.  BU is listed as 509th globally.Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen, in the Centre for Midwifery & Women’s Health (CMWH), is the BU social scientist listed in this year’s ranking.  The full UK ranking is available here: research.com/scientists-rankings/social-sciences-and-humanities/gb and the full world ranking is available here: research.com/scientists-rankings/social-sciences-and-humanities

 

Congratulations to Social Workers Drs. Oliver & Harvey

Publishing, Women's Academic Network, writing

Congratulations to Dr. Orlanda Harvey and Dr. Louise Oliver on the publication of their latest article ‘The use of poetry in form of haikus as a tool for critical reflection’ [1].  This latest academic publication has been published in Social Work Education The International Journal.  This interesting article focuses on critical reflection is an integral part of social work education and practice, yet it is widely understood to be hard to learn, teach, and assess. The authors introduced the use of poetry in the form of haikus to three different qualifying social work student groups to trial a creative way of getting students to engage in critical reflection. Ninety-six students took part in the reflection activity and 23 of the students agreed to take part in the research element, which used a mixed-methods approach to explore the value of haikus in critical reflection. Following the thematic network analysis process, we identified one global theme: that haikus were a useful tool for developing critical reflection. There were three organizing themes identified: the need to create a safe learning environment to support engagement; that taking part provoked reactions; and the activity held important elements that aided the development of critical reflection.

 

Well done !

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

Faculty of Health & Social Sciences