USING QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE METHODS TO PRETEST THE PUBLICATION- TAKE CHARGE OF YOUR DIABETES - A GUIDE FOR CARE

Quantitative and qualitative methods used to pretest the guidebook Tak e Charge of Your Diabetes: A Guide for Care are presented in this pape r Questionnaires were used as the quantitative method (completed by 59 diabetes educators and 301 people with diabetes) and focus groups wer e used as the qualitative method (3 groups composed of 22 black men an d women with diabetes) to examine the relevance, purpose, content, and presentation of the Guide, Findings from between-methods triangulatio n supported the relevance, clarity of messages, identification of grou ps that would be most likely to benefit, readability, understandabilit y, and credibility of the Guide. Specific nr eas that needed modificat ion were identified. Each evaluation method provided unique data, for example, quantifiable data on intention to change behavior was provide d from one method and a recommendation that diversity be maintained wa s provided from the other method. The relative strengths and limitatio ns of combining quantitative and qualitative approaches are described.