The Use of Triangulation of Qualitative and Quantitative Methods as Applied on Health and Mortality Research in Demography

Christian Wegner, Vienna Institute of Demography
Priska Flandorfer, Vienna Institute of Demography

Our paper will contribute to the discussion about the use and successful application of a methodological triangulation as an innovative new methodological approach in demography. The triangulation combines qualitative and quantitative methods and complements those results to a comprehensive picture of the phenomenon under study. The approach has been used in some health studies, but has only scarcely been applied in demographic research. To illustrate how we used this approach in health and mortality research we describe the underlying phenomenon -sex differences in smoking- that we have studied with the triangulation and then concentrate on the description of the actual implementation. Furthermore, we discuss relevant issues and describe why we consider this methodological approach as highly beneficial not only for health and mortality research but also for studying other demographic phenomena.