“To really understand the complexities of health care phenomena, it’s a good idea to combine people’s stories with numerical data. Mixed methods research tools have evolved rapidly in the past decade,” says Professor Ahtisham Younas.
He has been teaching mixed methods research to doctoral researchers in the Finnish Doctoral Education Network in Nursing Science since 2024 and currently holds a part-time visiting professorship at the University of Eastern Finland in Kuopio. His main affiliation is with Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada, where he is currently establishing a Centre for Mixed Methods Research.
Younas was invited to Kuopio by Professor Tarja Kvist from the Department of Nursing Science. “We wanted to strengthen our researchers’ methodological skills, and he is a world-class expert in this field,” Kvist says.
According to Younas, nursing science has traditionally emphasised qualitative methods, such as interviews and group discussions, to understand people’s lived experiences. “Of course, quantitative measures have been used as well, and recently there has been more interest in combining both aspects in nursing science research.”
Mixed methods research combines and integrates elements of qualitative and quantitative methodologies, resulting in a more comprehensive view of the topic, such as the impact of different caregiving programmes as well as how they are perceived among patients. “You don’t just carry out two separate studies with different methodologies, but generate new insights by integrating them, for which there are a growing number of advanced tools available.”
How to do research and how to translate evidence into practice
Postdoctoral Researcher Frank Kiwanuka from Kvist’s team is currently working with Younas at Memorial University under a grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. The goal of their project is to update the Good Reporting of a Mixed Methods Study (GRAMMS) guidelines to reflect the rapidly developing field.
“This methodological work can be described as research on research – how to do research in a way that is rigorous and meaningful and can bring actual impact to the society,” Younas says.
With Kvist, Younas also collaborates on research projects and the supervision of doctoral researchers. One of their shared interests has been to conceptualise critical mixed methods research, which is driven by a commitment to exposing, challenging and dismantling systemic inequalities.
“That includes power structures within the research team as well. For example, patients are often invited to participate in research projects, but not always as equal partners. We are looking at developing a toolkit for researchers to ensure that patients are fully represented and their voices are fully heard.”
Younas says other potential collaboration topics include implementation science as well as sustainable working conditions for nurses.
“Implementation science studies approaches to translate research evidence into practice, but also to de-implement harmful practices. There is a great need for this in health care.”
"You can only provide compassionate care in sustainable and reasonable working conditions.”
Ahtisham Younas
An important focus of Younas’ research is to improve compassionate and person-centred care for marginalised and underserved populations such as immigrants and minority populations, individuals experiencing homelessness, and 2SLGBTQIA+ populations. “For this purpose, I’m looking for ways to nurture compassion and ethical sensitivity among nurses.”
“However, you can only provide compassionate care in sustainable and reasonable working conditions, so the circle of compassion has to start at the hospital management level.”
Originally from Pakistan, Younas completed his master’s and PhD degrees in Canada, where he has now lived for more than a decade. “Back when I was looking up universities abroad for my master’s, the University of Eastern Finland was actually one of my top choices for its high-quality research and pioneering programmes in nursing science.”
“Thus, when offered a position at UEF, I found it a great opportunity – like I was meant to come here after all.”
