A critical aspect of rural research is carefully defining and describing the rural context. This is particularly important in rural special education research because different definitions of rural may influence resource allocation, grant funding eligibility, and/or research findings. In order to highlight the importance of operationalizing rural, we discuss the challenges of defining rural, provide descriptions of commonly used definitions to familiarize readers with standardized coding schemes, and summarize an empirical example demonstrating the implications different definitions can have on rural special education research and policy. We conclude by providing recommendations for both producers and consumers of research.

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The use of advanced quantitative methods within mixed methods research has been investigated in a limited capacity. In particular, hierarchical linear models are a popular approach to account for multilevel data, such as students within schools, but its use and value as the quantitative strand in a mixed methods study remains unknown. This article examines the role of hierarchical linear modeling in mixed methods research with emphasis on design choice, priority, and rationales. The results from this systematic methodological review suggest that hierarchical linear modeling does not overshadow the contributions of the qualitative strand. Our study contributes to the field of mixed methods research by offering recommendations for the use of hierarchical linear modeling as the quantitative strand in mixed methods studies.

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Background: There is limited understanding of the prevalence of psychological distress and associated stressors and supports among displaced adults in low-and middle-income first asylum countries. Method: This article reports the findings of a cross-sectional study. We recruited 245 Congolese adults (18-80 years) residing in Nairobi, Kenya using snowball sampling. Data were collected using an interviewer-administered questionnaire consisting of sociodemographic characteristics, the Self-Reporting Questionnaire (SRQ-20), and a locally We thank the Congolese women and men who participated in this study. We are also grateful to Anne, Patrick, Rinado, Alex, and Mohamed for their invaluable contributions during fieldwork. Many thanks to Drs. Burris (Duke) Duncan, Mark Nichter, and Ivy Pike for insightful conversations and feedback at each stage of JAT's dissertation project as well as to the anonymous reviewers whose thorough and thoughtful engagement with the manuscript strengthened the final version.