A mixed methods inquiry into the validity of data.

Background: Research in herd health management solely using a quantitative approach may present major challenges to the interpretation of the results, because the humans involved may have responded to their observations based on previous experiences and own beliefs. This challenge can be met through increased awareness and dialogue between researchers and farmers or other stakeholders about the background for data collection related to management and changes in management. By integrating quantitative and qualitative research methods in a mixed methods research approach, the researchers will improve their understanding of this potential bias of the observed data and farms, which will enable them to obtain more useful results of quantitative analyses.