title: Using Mixed Methods to Evaluate a Community Intervention for Sexual Assault Survivors: A Methodological Tale.
abstract: This article reviews current epistemological and design issues in the mixed methods literature and then examines the application of one specific design, a sequential explanatory mixed methods design, in an evaluation of a community-based intervention to improve postassault care for sexual assault survivors. Guided by a pragmatist epistemological framework, this study collected quantitative and qualitative data to understand how the implementation of a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) program affected prosecution rates of adult sexual assault cases in a large midwestern community. Quantitative results indicated that the program was successful in affecting legal systems change and the qualitative data revealed the mediating mechanisms of the intervention's effectiveness. Challenges of implementing this design are discussed, including epistemological and practical difficulties that developed from blending methodologies into a single project.
authors.affiliation: Michigan State University, East Lansing, rmc@msu.edu.
authors.forename: Rebecca
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Campbell
authors.affiliation: Wayne State University, Detroit, MI.
authors.forename: Debra
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Patterson
authors.affiliation: Michigan State University, East Lansing.
authors.forename: Deborah
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bybee
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D035846:Law Enforcement; D008297:Male; D009726:Nurses; D015397:Program Evaluation; D011902:Rape; D012107:Research Design; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012947:Social Work; D017741:Survivors