Using mixed methods research: Contributions from a case working with people with Parkinson’s Disease

Abstract

Introduction: Mixed methods research has the potential to combine the use of quantitative and qualitative techniques and methods so that the greatest possible potential of fieldwork is achieved. The complexity of individual-environment relationships in situations that put health and life trajectories at stake is an appropriate context for applying the mixed approach. Here it presents its application in a work with people with Parkinson's Disease (PwPD). Methods: Intensive, situated, sequential mixed method approach with qualitative dominance, working with a non-parametric and convenience sample of PwPD in a local context. Results: It was observed that coping strategies did not show significant quantitative differences between two events determined a priori by the researcher based on the background (COVID-19 pandemic and diagnosis of Parkinson's Disease (PD)); However, qualitatively we found that the diagnosis constituted a clear turning point common to PwPD, unlike the pandemic. Conclusions: Although the initial intention was to work on the impact of the pandemic on the lives of PwPD (knowing from published background that the pandemic had affected people with chronic diseases whether or not they had suffered from coronavirus), the development of the study ledto resuming their life stories, emphasizing the particular issues linked to living with Parkinson's. Contrary to the assumptions, the determination of the coronavirus pandemic had not had the relevance as a turning point that the diagnosis of PD did represent.