As I mentioned in an earlier response, it's not that there's a shortage of data about women veterans. We have some challenges when it comes to the quality of that data. That isn't a comment on study rigour, by any means. We have many good-quality studies. We just don't have enough women in them. Many of the studies that are available don't have enough women in the sample, which makes it very challenging for us to conduct in-depth analyses beyond comparisons between men and women.
Further to that, because cell counts in some of these studies are so low, it makes it difficult to actually do an analysis or interpret findings with confidence. Further to that, it makes it even more challenging to do intersectional analyses—for example, of women of colour, or women who might live in rural areas—because your cell counts are even lower than that. That presents an additional challenge if we want to do sex- and gender-based analysis plus in that respect.
As I mentioned, many of those studies are population-level studies designed for performance measurement and surveillance. That is valuable information to have. We really believe in complementing quantitative research with qualitative research, because qualitative research has the power to change the nature of the questions that we ask in quantitative findings. We can use qualitative work to inform the quantitative studies that we do.
We also believe in the power of community-based research and participatory action models of research that can bring the interest and the needs of the community into the study design. We can then empower communities to help shape research, which then empowers them to participate in research in the numbers that we need them to participate in.
I hope that's helpful.