Data Integration using the Building Technique in Mixed-Methods Instrument Development: Methodological Discussion.

AIMS: To discuss and illustrate how meaningful integration can be achieved in instrument development design. DESIGN: Discussion paper DATA SOURCES: A mixed methods study about challenges of nurse educators in Pakistan. The building technique was implemented when the findings of the qualitative phase were integrated to develop an instrument to determine educators' challenges while teaching nursing students in academic and clinical settings. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING: Nurses are required to use cultural and population specific instruments for data collection. The six-step building approach can enable nurses to develop such instruments using rigorous and robust mixed methods design. CONCLUSION: Building and merging techniques are used in instrument development design during and after the completion of the study, respectively. However, building technique is essential for using the qualitative findings to develop the instrument. The proposed building approach starts with a robust qualitative data analysis and is strengthened with the selection of key themes and sub-themes, linking them to the participants' quotes and then the conversion of the quotes into meaningful and pertinent items. Using the proposed building integration technique can enable researchers to meaningfully and efficiently use qualitative findings for developing instruments using mixed methods designs. IMPACT: Mixed methods are valuable for the development of data collection instruments that are tailored to the study context and relevant for the study participants. There is limited guidance about how meaningful integration can be achieved when developing research instruments using mixed methods. We proposed a practical building technique that allows researchers to meaningfully use qualitative findings from one phase to develop an instrument for the subsequent phase. The proposed approach is useful for researchers aiming to develop data collection instruments using mixed methods.