The application of mixed methods in designing and advancing interventions

This chapter provides an overview of mixed methods, a methodological approach in which qualitative and quantitative study elements are used and integrated at any stage of behavioral intervention development. Discussed are the critical issues in intervention development, testing, and dissemination/implementation that can be addressed with mixed methods designs, strategies for deploying mixed methods at each stage of an intervention's development using the NIH Stage Model of Behavioral Intervention Development, and how these approaches can help investigators further explore the questions of “whether,” “how,” and “why” an intervention may or may not be beneficial for target populations and contexts throughout the intervention development lifecycle.