Page 3, lines 117-118, the statement has two issues.
The fundamental issue that needs clarity is whether or not the study design was ‘exploratory mixed methods design’ or ‘convergent parallel design.’ As far as exploratory mixed methods design is concerned, the researcher begins with qualitative data and then collects quantitative information. Typically, in this design, the researcher presents the study in two phases, with the first phase involving qualitative data collection and the second phase involving quantitative data. In this regard, your study fits with the exploratory nature. In an exploratory sequential mixed-methods design, the researcher emphasizes the qualitative data (QUAL) more than the quantitative data (quan). This emphasis may reveal by presenting the overarching question as an open-ended question or discussing the qualitative results in more detail than the quantitative results. However, in this manuscript, I have not seen elements of these characteristics in the paper. As I have seen a complementary role of the qualitative and quantitative pieces is apparent instead of the qualitative piece informing the quantitative pieces. For example, the description of the study design says the following. Page 2, lines 90-92, ‘This was then integrated into the second study phase consisting of a nationally representative sample of the same sort of cohort.’ This description shows the integration of the two phases instead of the preceding phase informing the next phase. From the explanation in the study design and the presentation of your results, it sounds to me as if the mixed-methods nature of this study fits more with the convergent parallel design. Please, give your readers more information that conveniences the exploratory nature.