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ABSTRACT
People with disabilities have traditionally faced exclusion from health-related research in multiple ways. They have been excluded as participants in the research agenda setting process as well as contributors to the evidence-base of treatment and intervention research. The judicious use of mixed method designs afford opportunities for more inclusive research. However, the use of both qualitative and quantitative research methods with people with disabilities necessitates careful planning. This article aims to provide insights into the exclusionary practices faced by people with disabilities, the potential of mixed methods studies to address some of these sources of exclusion, and the specific planning considerations when conducting research with various disability populations.
Keywords: disability, health research, mixed methods
BACKGROUND
Over the past decade the quantity of literature describing mixed methods research has risen (Leech & Onwuegbuzie, 2009). While many texts emphasise careful planning and highlight the various planning steps little attention has been devoted to the practical implications of mixed method studies in research with people with disabilities. Mixed method designs - when planned and implemented carefully - hold a unique potential to broaden reach and engagement of research processes to people with disabilities. The aim of this paper is to review issues pertaining to the exclusion of people with disabilities from healthrelated research and examine the potential and practice considerations for mixed method designs in terms of enhanced inclusion.
Defining disability is highly contentious and politicised. Activists and many social scientists have fought hard to 'de-medicalise' disability and argue against normalising tendencies found, for example in pre-natal screenings, preventive initiatives that are part of public health campaigns and medical rehabilitation. Most disability studies scholars regard 'disability' exclusively as socially constructed phenomenon (Priestley, 2003), strictly opposing those who seek to individualise the issue of disability. Disability conceptualisations span the spectrum between individual to socio-political location, and from static to dynamic relational views (Nagi, 1965). A comprehensive overview of the different positions can be found in the Handbook of Disability Studies (Albrecht, Seelman, & Bury, 2001).
Over the decades attempts by health researchers and social scientists have sought to overcome the divide between disability and health but have often failed to pay sufficient attention to the features of the socio-physical environment in which disability manifests itself. The...