Introduction: Appraising the quality of studies included in systematic reviews combining qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods studies is challenging. To address this challenge, a critical appraisal tool was developed: the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT). The aim of this paper is to present the MMAT. Development: The MMAT was developed in 2006 and was subject to pilot and interrater reliability testing. A revised new version of the MMAT was developed using the results from usefulness testing as well as a literature review on critical appraisal tools and a modified e-Delphi study with methodological experts to identify the core relevant criteria to include in the MMAT. Tool description: The MMAT includes quality criteria of five categories of study designs: (a) qualitative, (b) randomized controlled trial, (c) nonrandomized, (d) quantitative descriptive and (e) mixed methods studies. The MMAT focuses on core relevant methodological criteria and has five criteria per category of study design. Conclusion: The MMAT offers an alternative solution by proposing a unique tool that can appraise the quality of different study designs. Also, by limiting to core criteria, the MMAT can provide a more time efficient appraisal.

Objective: The mixed methods appraisal tool (MMAT) was developed for critically appraising different study designs. This study aimed to improve the content validity of three of the five categories of studies in the MMAT by identifying relevant methodological criteria for appraising the quality of qualitative, survey, and mixed methods studies.Study Design and Setting: First, we performed a literature review to identify critical appraisal tools and extract methodological criteria. Second, we conducted a two-round modified e-Delphi technique. We asked three method-specific panels of experts to rate the relevance of each criterion on a five-point Likert scale.Results: A total of 383 criteria were extracted from 18 critical appraisal tools and a literature review on the quality of mixed methods studies, and 60 were retained. In the first and second rounds of the e-Delphi, 73 and 56 experts participated, respectively. Consensus was reached for six qualitative criteria, eight survey criteria, and seven mixed methods criteria. These results led to modifications of eight of the 11 MMAT (version 2011) criteria. Specifically, we reformulated two criteria, replaced four, and removed two. Moreover, we added six new criteria.Conclusion: Results of this study led to improve the content validity of this tool, revise it, and propose a new version (MMAT version 2018). Ó

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This study examined Spanish young people's gender-stereotyped beliefs and attitudes about people working in the field of information and communications technology (ICT). For this purpose, their positive, negative, and neutral perceptions of the associated characteristics of these workers were also analyzed. Likewise, the use of masculine, feminine, or neutral expressions to describe these professionals was explored. The existence of gender differences in these aspects was also investigated. 900 students from Catalonia (51 % girls) enrolled in the last course of junior secondary education (mean of age=15 years old; S.D.=1.73) participated in a survey with close and open-ended questions. Content analysis of responses to an open-ended question indicated that the boys and girls held several stereotypical beliefs about ICT professionals (a highly male-dominated field), but they also reported counter-stereotypical beliefs about them. As expected, these stereotypical beliefs described a masculine portrayal of ICT workers. Contrary to expectations, most of the students' portrayals of people working in ICT were either positive or neutral, not negative. Likewise and opposite to predictions, young males did not show more positive attitudes towards ICT professionals than girls. In fact, both girls and boys evaluated more positively than negatively the different descriptive aspects associated with ICT professionals. In support of expectations, most boys and girls referred to masculine role models working in ICT. No gender differences were observed in the type of characteristics associated with ICT professionals. However, young females were more likely to offer feminine references about professions where ICT is the tool rather than the object of their work. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings within the context of Spain are discussed.