ABSTRACT
This essay on methodological diversity, by Rapport and Zurynski, examines how we can use methodologies to encourage a more appropriate translation of our research ideas and findings into practice. It emphasizes the need to choose appropriate methods for the research questions we ask, linked to well-considered actions around implementation and system change, underpinned by contextual factors that highlight the environments, social, emotional, and physical in which our research is based. This essay concentrates on economic, longitudinal, and mixed research methods and describes how methodological diversity can be integrated, assessed, and evaluated in terms of its success and impact in any given situation. This essay concludes with a recommendation that there are myriad opportunities to use a diverse range of methods, but particularly when faced with those stickier research questions, research in the messy world of healthcare systems and research where sensitivity or a more nuanced understanding of a setting or behaviour are particularly welcomed.
