Integrating Qualitative and Quantitative Methods: Comparing HIV-Related Risk Behaviors Among Puerto Rican Drug Users in Puerto Rico and New York

Abstract

A dual site project was conducted to assess determinants of injection and sex-related risk behaviors among Puerto Rican drug users. The project focused on injection drug users and crack smokers, and was conducted in East Harlem, NY and Bayamón, PR in 1996-2000. Qualitative methods included ethnographic mapping, focus groups, in-depth interviews, and observations. A survey component (East Harlem, n = 800; Bayamón, n = 400) was also conducted. Procedures to ensure integration of methodologies and comparability of data were developed. This paper describes the qualitative and survey methods used, and presents the comparative HIV risk behaviors. The integration of the two methodologies served multiple functions: each component identified issues to be addressed in the other, enhanced cross-site comparability of data, and assisted in interpretation of findings. The survey data showed high levels of risk behaviors in both communities, with significantly higher levels of risk reported in Bayamón. Conducting studies of similar ethnic groups in different communities provides opportunities to examine diverse sources of influence on risk behaviors. The integration of qualitative and quantitative methods can enhance comparability and understanding of findings, particularly when there are differences in behaviors between communities.

The Puerto Rico–New York Airbridge for Drug Users: Description and Relationship to HIV Risk Behaviors

“…Injection and sex-related risk behaviors, as reported in prior publications on these cohorts, were higher in PR, 9,11,14,15 and access to services was lower. 16 As shown in Table 2, for the total sample, a smaller percentage of those recruited in PR reported engaging in sex in the prior 30 days (48 vs 56%, p G 0.01).…”

“…Participants were recruited by outreach workers using targeted sampling (see Deren et al 9 and Coló n et al 11 for details regarding the recruitment process). They were brought to field locations in each study site, where informed consent (at baseline) was obtained, the interview was administered, and HIV testing was offered.…”

“…7 Puerto Rican drug users have been found to be at especially high risk for HIV, and higher risk behaviors have been found among Puerto Rican drug users living on the Island, compared to those in mainland USA. 8,9 Early recognition of the Deren importance of addressing HIV-related issues and migration between PR and the USA was evidenced by a conference in the early 1990s focusing on BThe HIV/AIDS Epidemic in a Commuting Population: Puerto Ricans in New York City and Puerto Rico,^where many of the presentations identified the need to examine this travel in terms of its relationship to HIV risk behaviors. 10 The distinction between two types of mobility, changes in actual residence and visits from one location to another (without actually residing there), are particularly important to make within the Bairbridge^concept, where both types of mobility may occur.…”

A Comparative Study of Mortality Among Puerto Rican Injection Drug Users in East Harlem, New York, and Bayamon, Puerto Rico

“…Detailed descriptions of the study design, sampling and instrumentation of the ARIBBA project have been published elsewhere. 31 The catchment areas of the ARIBBA project comprised the East Harlem area of New York City and the urban section of the municipality of Bayamon in the San Juan metropolitan area in Puerto Rico. Ethnographic mapping procedures were conducted to locate the drug copping areas and divide the catchment areas into sectors.…”

The Adoption of Web-Based Marketing in the Travel and Tourism Industry: An Empirical Investigation in Egypt

“…Other benefits of using mixed methods include increasing the accuracy of research findings and the level of confidence in them (Kelle, 2001), generating new knowledge through a synthesis of knowledge from different approaches (Foss and Ellefsen, 2002) and reflecting the complexity of a multi-faceted phenomenon (Deren et al, 2003).…”