Interlacing qualitative and quantitative methods in applied health research: a "generative" taxonomy for multi and mixed methods designs

The different nature and the complementarities of qualitative and quantitative methods has been largely discussed in the literature. Evidences also underline the heuristic value of interlacing these two approaches in the study of health issues. Mixing qualitative and quantitative methods, thus, opens the possibility for greater research creativity and allows to reach a maximum flexibility in the inquiry design. However how to best interlace qualitative and quantitative methods still remain matter to debate. This paper proposes a “generative taxonomy” which can help researchers in positioning themselves according to their research object and to the main finalities of the study. The taxonomy articulates four different levels of “formalization” that the research design can assume (descriptive, associative, explicative and generative) and describes how each level can be declined according to qualitative or quantitative methods, by generating specific research objectives and methodological paths. The taxonomy appears helpful for analysing and defining the syntax of multi- and mixed- methods design and for managing the process of an applied health research. The paper concludes by commenting on some case histories, exemplificative of different “mixed a multi design syntaxes” generated by the taxonomy.