Triangulation of qualitative and quantitative approaches for the study of gay bears' food intake in São Paulo, Brazil
ISSN: 1443-9883
Article publication date: 10 February 2021
Issue publication date: 12 October 2021
Abstract
Purpose
The authors aimed to triangulate food intake data obtained by two qualitative methods (in-depth interviews and participant observations) and one quantitative method (food-frequency questionnaire (FFQ)). The purpose of this paper was to analyze the kind of data each method produced and how these different pieces of information are methodologically related to the characteristics and limitations of different methods used and theoretically connected to participants' identities and masculinities.
Design/methodology/approach
The analysis was based on data from an ethnographic study; whose participants were 35 men who self-identified as gay bears. The participants' food intake was investigated through participant observations, in-depth interviews and an FFQ.
Findings
The qualitative methods indicated an overconsumption of meat and beer and a rejection of fresh foods, especially fruits and vegetables, as diacritical signs of the bears' identity. The FFQ showed a major consumption of minimally processed food, with fruits and vegetables being eaten more than meat. The authors proposed that the participants have compartmentalized their many habitual intakes and assessed one of them, separately, according to the method used (what was being asked and the context of that moment). Additionally, the authors connected these two patterns of habitual intake to the participants' identities and masculinities, questioning the existence of a constant hegemonic masculinity among this group.
Originality/value
The triangulation of methods employed in the present study is seldom addressed in the literature. This approximation provided a rich discussion regarding the connections between eating, sexuality, gender and identity, through a novel methodological and theoretical lens.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to the participants of this research.Conflict of interest: The authors do not have conflicts of interest.Funding: This research was funded by fellowships provided by the Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP), process numbers 2015/12235-8, 2017/05651-0 and 2019/00031-0, the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq), process number 309514/2018−5 and the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES), processes numbers 8882.330823/2019 and 88882.330829/2019-01.
Citation
Unsain, R.F., Sato, P.d.M., Ulian, M.D., Sabatini, F., Silva Oliveira, M.S.d. and Scagliusi, F.B. (2021), "Triangulation of qualitative and quantitative approaches for the study of gay bears' food intake in São Paulo, Brazil", Qualitative Research Journal, Vol. 21 No. 4, pp. 444-455. https://doi.org/10.1108/QRJ-04-2020-0034
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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