An Introduction to Concept Mapping as a Participatory Public Health Research Method

TLDR

The authors introduce concept mapping as a participatory research method for public health, demonstrating its use to generate hypotheses and develop theory through an application to women’s perceptions of neighborhood factors and intimate partner violence. They outline concept mapping’s blend of qualitative and quantitative techniques, detailing data collection, analysis procedures, and the intricacies of applying the method in public health research. The article concludes by highlighting concept mapping’s unique contributions and the challenges it presents for public health investigators.

Abstract

In this article, the authors introduce concept mapping as a useful participatory research method for public health researchers interested in generating hypotheses and developing theory. The authors first provide an overview of concept mapping, which combines qualitative approaches with quantitative analytical tools to produce visual displays of the relationship between ideas. Then, they present an illustrative research application of the method to the exploration of women's perceptions of the relationship between residential neighborhood factors and intimate partner violence experiences. They give attention to the data collection and analysis procedures and to demonstrating the intricacies of using concept mapping for public health research purposes. Finally, the article concludes with a discussion of the unique contributions and challenges associated with concept mapping.