Qualitative and Mixed Methods Core

Heather Stuckey, DEd

QMMC Co-Director

Heather L. Stuckey, DEd, is an associate professor of medicine, humanities and public health sciences and co-founder and co-director of the QMMC. She is an expert in the design, conduct and analysis of qualitative research methods. As a social sciences and behavioral scientist, she has been lead qualitative researcher for the two international studies. The first, Diabetes Attitudes, Wishes and Needs (DAWN2), involved 17 countries and 15,000 people with diabetes, their family members and medical professionals. The second study investigated barriers to insulin initiation in a pharmacological contract.

She recently completed several studies in diabetes, including:

• Severe hypoglycemia events in people who are insulin-dependent
• Type 1 diabetes and complications and life experience after age 65
• Social support through blogs and social media for type 1 diabetes
• Diabetes self-management in people who have severe mental illness
• Development and validation of a survey instrument on diabetes burnout

Stuckey has spent considerable time training qualitative researchers across multiple fields of behavioral study and has conducted trainings for interview and focus group facilitators for internal, industry and federally funded research.

She is the director of the graduate course in qualitative research at Penn State College of Medicine and has mentored multiple faculty members, medical and graduate students in qualitative and mixed methods research projects.

Learn more about Dr. Stuckey’s experience

Lauren Jodi Van Scoy, MD

QMMC Co-Director

Lauren Jodi Van Scoy, MD, is a professor of medicine, humanities and public health sciences and co-founder and co-director of the QMMC. She is a practicing pulmonary and critical care physician and joined the faculty of Penn State College of Medicine in 2013. She was recently awarded the Jo Rae Wright Award for scientific excellence from the Parker B. Francis Foundation. Her personal mixed methods research program called Project Talk studies end-of-life issues and includes advanced care planning, communication and end-of-life decision-making in a variety of settings including the intensive care unit and community groups. Her research includes theory-based approaches to the assessment of communication quality and behaviors related to end-of-life conversation. She is also studying an ICU family meeting tool, ‘Let’s Talk’ that is currently under study.

As a methodologist in mixed methods, her focus is on using both quantitative and qualitative methodologies to examine behavioral interventions in randomized controlled trials. Through QMMC and other venues, she serves as a methodology consultant for a wide variety of mixed-method projects and topics, including large, randomized controlled trials, pharmacological drug trials, and education projects.

Van Scoy is the director of a graduate course in mixed methods at Penn State College of Medicine and has mentored many medical students, residents, graduate students and junior faculty.

Learn more about Dr. Van Scoy’s experience

QMMC helps research teams achieve their project goals from conceptualization to implementation through the following services:

• Project development: IRB, REDCap and internal department review assistance
• Surveys: Validating instruments, organizing study constructs
• Interviews: Individual interview and focus group guides

QMMC provides services to assist with analyzing and publishing your data, including:

• Transcription: PHI and non-PHI audio files
• Data collection: Interviewing, focus group facilitation and coding in Qualitative software (NVivo, MAXQDA, Dedoose, etc.)
• Data analysis: Codebook development, quantitative analysis, qualitative analysis, basic and advanced data integration techniques
• Manuscript preparation: Methods, results and editing

The QMMC can provide training in interviewing and coding if you prefer your research team be trained in these skills.

Audio transcription fees:

• REV – For all of your non-PHI needs; $1.50 per minute of audio
• 3 Play Media – For all of you PHI needs; $2.05 per minute of audio

In addition to providing services, QMMC is dedicated to helping research teams develop mixed methods skills through individualized training in interviewing, focus group facilitation, coding, qualitative and mixed methods analysis.

Workshops are also available throughout the year. Please visit the calendar below for upcoming events.

Previous topic areas have included:

• Explanation of qualitative and mixed methods research
• Coding in NVivo
• Mixed methods and qualitative analysis
• Best practices for virtual interviews and focus groups
• Determining interrater reliability

Private educational opportunities are also available. If you are interested in the QMMC visiting your classroom, faculty meeting or other function, please email qmmc@pennstathealth.psu.edu.