1. Chapter 6 Qualitative Research Designs
The World of Qualitative Research
Qualitative Research designs
Scientific Adequacy Of Qualiative Research
Advantages & Limitations of qualitative Approaches

2. Defining Qualitative Research
use words rather than numbers to describe findings
assume a dynamic reality
emphasize seeing the world from the perspective of the participants
goal is understanding rather than prediction
emphasize the subjective dimensions of human experiences
holistic rather than reductionistic
associated with the interpretive approach which is discovery oriented, explanatory, descriptive, and inductive in nature

3. Major Paradigms in Nursing
TOTALITY -reality exists independent of the knower
humans are viewed as the sum of their parts
cause & effect relationships
health is a continuum
quantitative research approaches
positivist tradition
SIMULTANEITY- reality is a mutual process b/w human s & the environment
humans are > & different from the sum of their parts
study is conducted not to control the human being but to gain insights into understanding the personal meaning of experience
researchers study the universal lived experiences of health or patterns of the whole
qualitative research approaches & the interpretive tradition

4. Qualitative research is complementary to quantitative research
Qualitative research is complementary to quantitative research. Both processes produce different kinds of knowledge that are valued by the profession and both are needed to promote excellence in practice

5. Core Activities in Qualitative Research
Literature Review- a cursory review may be done initially to focus the study, otherwise it is conducted after the data has been collected and analyzed.
Rationale for delaying the L.R. is to avoid leading the participants in the direction of what has already been discovered.
Purpose of L.R. is to show how current findings fit into what is already known

6. Explicating Researcher’s Beliefs
Bracketing - setting aside one’s biases and personal views on a topic
Investigator keeps a diary of personal thoughts and feelings about the topic
Purpose is to make known to the researcher her/his beliefs about the topic so that the researcher may approach the topic honestly

7. Setting for Data Collection
The field is the natural world where participants live
The field requires reciprocity in terms of decision making
The participant & researcher determine what data will be shared
Participants must understand & be willing to share their thoughts & feelings about the phenomenon
Contrast this with quantitative studies where data are collected in controlled settings & the researcher is removed from the subject

8. Selection of Participants
Participant or informant refers to the individual who informs the research study (vs subjects or respondents)
They are active participants & equal partners
Must have 1st hand experience with research phenomenon (vs random selection)
They want to help others understand their lives & the social contexts in which they live & create meaning

9. Purposive Sampling
Participants must have first hand experience with the research experience and be able to talk about it
Researcher establishes clear criteria & rationale for sample selection
Goal is not generalization of findings but rich descriptions of phenomenon by those who have experienced it

10. Saturation
A situation in data collection in which participants’ descriptions become repetitive & confirm previously collected data
An indication that data collection is complete
Similar to adequate sample size in quantitative research

11. Data Analysis
Researcher immerses self in data to bring order & meaning to vast narrative
Begins with 1st data collection episode
Reading, rereading, intuiting, analyzing, synthesizing & reporting on data
Cyclical & recursive process that requires an extensive amount of time

12. Scientific Adequacy
RIGOR in qualitative research is less about the adherence to rules and more about fidelity to the spirit and standards of qualitative work (Sandelowski, 1993)

13. Data Analysis (cont’d)
Data from interviews are continuously reviewed to identify additional questions
Data from earlier interviews are routinely returned to participants for clarification/elaboration
Investigator must look for meaning in the data as it is reviewed

14. Data Analysis (Cont’d)
At conclusion of study a protracted period of data immersion in which conclusions are reviewed in the context of the whole study
Data similar in meaning are clustered together into preliminary categories

15. 4 Criteria of Trustworthiness
Credibility
Transferability
Dependability
Confirmability

16. Credibility Refers to the accuracy of the description
Is the description plausible & recognized by those who experienced it.
Enhanced by prolonged time in the field
Repeatedly observing & interacting with participants
Triangulation of data sources, methods, data type, investigators, & theories
Member checks-participants involved with data analysis

17. Dependability
Refers to the stability & trackability of the changes in data over time & conditions
Reflects the reality that people’s situations change & reality differs for people
Want to determine the extent to which another researcher with similar training & rapport with participants would make the same observations
This is determined by an audit trail

18. Transferability
Concerned with generalizability or fittingness of findings to other settings, populations, & contexts
Report must provide sufficient detail so that readers can assess this
Lack of transferability is often viewed as a weakness of qualitative methods

19. Confirmability Basic issue here is one of neutrality
Do conclusions depend upon the subjects & conditions of inquiry rather than on the researcher
Would 2 independent researchers agree about the meanings emerging from the data
An audit trail is used
researcher must explicate how personal biases may have come into play and consider alternative explanations

20. EXERCISE
Use the questions in Box 6.8 to assess the qualitative rigor of an assigned research study

21. Contemporary Standards of Quality in Qualitative Research
Fidelity to the spirit of qualitative work OR “Did we get it right?”
positionality
community
voice
critical subjectivity
reciprocity
sacredness of relationship
sharing privileges

22. Advantages & Limitations
Focus on the whole of the human experience & the meanings ascribed to them by participants they provide nurses with deep insights that would not be possible using quantitative methods exclusively
The major strength of qualitative work is the validity of the data it produces
Participants true reality is likely to be reflected

23. Advantages & Limitations (cont’d)
Major limitation is its perceived lack of objectivity & generalizability
Researchers become the research tools and may lack objectivity

24. Phenomenology
Describes the meaning of the lived experience from the perspective of the participant
Seeks to achieve a deep understanding of the phenomenon by rigorous, systematic examination of it
Its purpose is to describe the essences of lived experiences

25. ESSENCES
ELEMENTS RELATED TO THE TRUE MEANING OF SOMETHING THAT GIVES COMMON UNDERSTANDING TO THE PHENOMENON UNDER STUDY

26. Philosophical Tenets Whatever is known must appear in consciousness
Consciousness provides access to the world
All phenomenologists believe in multiple realities constructed by individuals within the social context of their lives

27. Developing the Question
Focus is to describe the meaning of the lived experience from the perspective of the participant
Broad question: “What is the meaning of one’s lived experience?”
Central overarching question & subquestions

28. Role of Researcher Is the instrument for data collection
Establishes good rapport with participants
Explicates beliefs through bracketing
The meaning of the lived experience is interpreted from the participants’ stories

29. Sample Small purposive sample
Participants are able & willing to talk about their experience and describe their feelings
Large enough to get a rich description of the research phenomenon

30. Data Collection In-depth interviews
Written descriptions of experiences in diaries & journals
Observations
Multiple interviews with same participants to reflect the meaning of the lived experience from the participants’ perspective

31. Data Analysis Immersion with the data
Read, re-read transcripts, may return to participants for clarification or description
Comparative analysis to identify themes in data
Look for similarities & differences in data to identify themes
Reduce data into smaller & smaller number of categories to arrive at a consistent description of the meaning of the lived experience
Share description with participants for verification

32. Review of Literature
Conducted after data collection & analysis are complete
Places findings within the context of what is known about the phenomenon

33. Findings reports the essence of the experience
reader should get an understanding of what it is like to experience the phenomenon

34. Grounded Theory
Goal is to develop a theory about the processes (social behaviour or scene) under investigation in a natural setting
Useful in areas where little is known or when a new perspective is needed
Tries to identify the core process and subsidiary processes in the situation

35. G.T. - Philosophy Symbolic interactionism
humans react to things on the basis of meanings that events have for them in everyday life
meanings are derived from social situations
meanings are shaped by dealings with others

36. G.T. - Developing the Question
Question may not be explicitly stated but can be implied from the purpose
Question is broad & may change several times as data are analyzed
Basic social process
Gerund (noun ending in ing )
What is the process of ...

37. G.T. - Role of Researcher
Studies the behavior & the social setting that influences the interaction
Is a participant & observer
No effort is made by researcher to put aside assumptions.
On the contrary the researcher uses past experiences and assumptions to better understand the processes being observed.

38. G.T. - Sample
Participants who are experiencing the social process under study
Size determined by theoretical sampling (collects, codes & analyzes data & then decides what additional data are needed)
Saturation- inability of new data to add new codes

39. G.T. - Data Collection Data collection & analysis are concurrent
Observation & audio-taped interviews
Field notes
Researcher participates in the social group, observes & records data relevant to study purpose
Broad open-ended questions
Ask participants to share stories of their experiences

40. G.T. _ Data Collection Everything to the grounded theorist is data
Data are obtained through a combination of: participant observation, interviews with informants, reading the literature on the study questions, and self-reflection

41. Data Analysis Data collection, coding & analysis occur simultaneously
Constant comparative method
Early data are coded with words that describe the action in the setting
Codes get revised & data recoded
Categories develop from the clustering of codes
Categories are then linked to develop a tentative theory or conceptual framework

42. G.T.-Literature
Review of the literature in the substantive area of the study is reserved until after the theory begins to emerge from the study data
Researcher integrates the literature with the emerging theory during saturation, sorting memos, & report writing

43. ETHNOGRAPHY
Aims to understand human behavior in the cultural context in which it is embedded
Aims to understand the way in which people live from the emic (insider’s) perspective vs the etic (researcher’s or outsider’s) perspective

44. Ethnography The work of describing a culture (Spradley, 1980)
Culture includes a way of life (all the ways a group of people solve problems, a pattern of living that guides thoughts, actions, sentiments as reflected in language, dress, food, traditions, customs, etc.
Purpose is to make explicit what is implicit within a cultural group

45. Ethnonursing
“the study & analysis of the indigenous people’s point of view, beliefs, & practices about nursing care phenomena & processes of designated cultures
Provides a means to study cultural variations in health& illness, & nurses & their clients as subcultures of society

46. Ethnonursing
Mini ethnography - a small scale ethonography focusing on a narrow area of inquiry, limited time period, published as an article
Maxi ethnography - comprehensive study of a designated culture. Have a broad focus of inquiry, extend over a long period of time (years), & are published in book form

47. Ethnography- Philosophy
Roots in cultural anthropology (study of the origin of people, their past, & strategies for surviving through time)
Involves learning from people rather than studying them. The researcher must become a student & the participants of the culture the teachers
Researcher adopts an attitude of conscious ignorance about the culture

48. Three Phases of Ethnographic Research
Prefield Work
Field Work
Postfield Work

49. Developing the Question
Focuses on some pattern of behavior, lifestyle, custom, or belief of the culture-sharing group
e.g.- the health beliefs of immigrant Hong Kong women
Nurses may focus on an aspect of life in the community that impacts the health experience of its members

50. Role of Researcher Is the primary data collection tool
Enters the world for an extended period of time, asking questions, observing, participating, & collecting whatever data are available
Observe behavior but go beyond it to inquire about the meaning of it
researcher’s role is to make inferences from their observations & then to test these inferences over time with their population until they are confident they have an adequate description of the culture
Must set aside biases & explicate beliefs

51. Sample
A cultural group that has experience with phenomenon of interest
Informant vs subject
Gatekeeper
Key Informants

52. Data Collection Participant observation Formal & informal interviews
Focus groups
Collection of artifacts & documents
Field notes
Other sources (demographic data, maps, genealogies, life histories)

53. Ethnography Data Analysis
Follows a cyclical pattern
Data collection, recording, analyzing, returning tot he field to collect more data
Proceeds through 4 levels: domain analysis, taxonomic analysis, componential analysis, & theme analysis
Goal is to discover cultural patterns in the data people are using to make sense out of their experiences

54. Ethnographic Findings
A two-step process
1. A cultural inventory
2. A final descriptive report that may be a book or monograph