A Participatory Mixed Methods Approach to Researching Household Water Use In Gosford, Australia

Abstract

This paper argues that a participatory mixed methods approach is more suitable to develop insights into everyday water practices than conventional quantitative end-use studies or stand-alone qualitative behavioural studies. Combining quantitative and qualitative studies provides accurate data on the prevalence and impact of practices, as well as insights into the meanings inherent in household practices. Further, we argue that co-participation in practices during the research is a critical methodological addition to help participants to access meanings and to correlate quantitative data with practices. Our argument is illustrated with reference to a household water use study of forty-eight homes from Gosford City, Australia between May 2008 and July 2009.