Department of Geography, McGill University, 805 Sherbrooke Street West, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Department of Family Medicine, McGill University, 5858, chemin de la Côte-des-Neiges, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Prev Med. 2019 Sep;126:105752. doi: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2019.105752. Epub 2019 Jun 19.
Researchers examining the influence of the built environment on health are increasingly using mixed methods approaches. The use of more than one type of methodology to address a single research question is compelling in this field because researchers investigating the impact of the built environment on health have been faced with proposing solutions to a complex societal problem involving interacting systems and social uncertainties. Mixed methods studies can help researchers to gain a better understanding of the relationships that exist between humans and their environment by drawing on qualitative and quantitative methods. Mixed methods studies could also be instrumental for providing effective policy solutions. This is because they allow researchers to identify built environment determinants of health in a population of interest and to understand the social and cultural factors that might influence the uptake of an intervention by this population. The objective of this paper is to assist those conducting research on the built environment and health who may have little background in mixed methods. We provide an overview of mixed methods research designs and provide concrete techniques for the integration of diverse methods. We also discuss the recommendations for mixed methods research in the field of built environment - health research, drawing on specific examples from published studies. Reporting a research design and an integration strategy in mixed methods studies could help to strengthen our ability to gain new insights into the multidimensional nature of the relationship between the built environment and health.
研究人员在研究建筑环境对健康的影响时，越来越多地采用混合方法。在这个领域，使用不止一种方法来解决一个研究问题是很有说服力的，因为研究建筑环境对健康影响的研究人员面临着提出解决方案的挑战，这个问题涉及到相互作用的系统和社会不确定性的复杂社会问题。混合方法研究可以通过结合定性和定量方法，帮助研究人员更好地理解人类与其环境之间存在的关系。混合方法研究也可以为提供有效的政策解决方案提供帮助。这是因为它们可以让研究人员确定特定人群中与健康相关的建筑环境决定因素，并了解可能影响该人群接受干预的社会和文化因素。本文的目的是为那些可能对混合方法没有背景的研究建筑环境与健康的人提供帮助。我们概述了混合方法研究设计，并提供了整合不同方法的具体技术。我们还根据已发表研究的具体实例，讨论了在建筑环境-健康研究领域开展混合方法研究的建议。在混合方法研究中报告研究设计和整合策略，可以帮助我们加强对建筑环境与健康之间关系的多维性质的新见解。
