The restricted word limit may also encourage pharmacy practice researchers to publish the qualitative and quantitative components separately, thereby jeopardizing the usefulness of mixed-methods research. Therefore, we urge all the pharmacy practice/education journal editors to consider increasing the word limit for mixed-methods research to allow the inclusion of sufficient detail to ensure BI 6727 in vitro high-quality reporting of studies. In cases where increasing the word limit in print format is not practical, publishing

online supplemental material can also help to overcome the word-limit problem. Like any other research design the conduct of mixed-methods research has its challenges and limitations. These should be carefully considered before embarking on mixed-methods research. The biggest challenge perhaps is to possess the required knowledge and skills for both qualitative and quantitative data collection, analysis and interpretation. This can be overcome by developing teams of researchers with the required range of expertise, collaborating with researchers in other disciplines where necessary.[8] Mixed-methods study designs, especially sequential study

designs, may take significantly more time and resources SAHA HDAC to undertake the distinct phases of a study.[13] For concurrent study designs it may be difficult for a single researcher to collect both qualitative and quantitative data together and several data collectors may be required.[14, 15] Since mixed-methods research is a relatively new methodology, convincing and enlightening others about its usefulness may be challenging[8] and providing a sound rationale for this approach is important. In light of these limitations we

suggest the following four questions to assist researchers to clearly think through before choosing a mixed-methods design. Firstly, after stating the research question the researcher must ask: Is mixed-methods methodology best suited to answer the research question? Secondly, which mixed-methods research design is the most appropriate to answer the research question? Thirdly, do I or other members of the research SB-3CT team have the necessary knowledge and skills to conduct both qualitative and quantitative studies and meaningfully combine them to comprehensively answer the research question(s)? Finally, do we have adequate time and resources to carry out a mixed-methods study? Well-designed and -executed research is essential for the development of pharmacy practice. Pharmacy practice research can benefit from mixed-methods as it allows combining the strengths of both qualitative and quantitative methodologies to gain greater understanding of the research problem.[6] The ‘numbers’ can demonstrate the effectiveness of the service/intervention and the ‘words’ can describe how/why the intervention works. It also gives the researcher the freedom to choose and mix different methods.