Triangulation of Questionnaires, Qualitative Data and Natural Language Processing: A Differential Approach to Religious Bahá’í Fasting in Germany

Abstract

Abstract Approaches to integrating mixed methods into medical research are gaining popularity. To get a holistic understanding of the effects of behavioural interventions, we investigated religious fasting using a triangulation of quantitative, qualitative, and natural language analysis. We analysed an observational study of Bahá'í fasting in Germany using a between-method triangulation that is based on links between qualitative and quantitative analyses. Individual interviews show an increase in the mindfulness and well-being categories. Sentiment scores, extracted from the interviews through natural language processing, positively correlate with questionnaire outcomes on quality of life (WHO-5: Spearman correlation r = 0.486, p = 0.048). Five questionnaires contribute to the first principal component capturing the spectrum of mood states (50.1% explained variance). Integrating the findings of the between-method triangulation enabled us to converge on the underlying effects of this kind of intermittent fasting. Trial registration NCT03443739