The use of across-method triangulation in the study of sleep concerns in healthy older adults.

Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used to study sleep concerns of 84 healthy adults ages 60 to 89. The combined use of methods in one study brought sampling, data-collection, and data-interpretation issues to the forefront. This article describes a sampling method that accommodates assumptions of both paradigms, reports results of an experimental approach to examining the effects of each method on the other, and identifies convergent and disparate findings regarding sleep concerns of older adults. Self-report measures affected qualitative interviews but not vice versa. Also, age-by-method and gender-by-method interactions were evident.