1. NURSING KNOWLEDGE Chapter 16: The Rise of Qualitative Research Catherine S. Murton, MS, RN-BC, CNE, CHSE

2. QUALITATIVE RESEARCH Began in earnest in nursing in the 1980s Drew from methods employed in sociology and anthropology Ultimate goal of research Gather reliable relevant information Method: How it’s gathered Methodology: Why that method is appropriate

3. IN THE BEGINNING Carper (1978) Nursing is an art and science (“aesthetics” of nursing knowledge) Science  Numerical theory  Laws  Prediction Art (Social Science)  meaning, understanding, value Watson (1981) Focusing on the “science” of nursing was one dimensional Lost the complexity and richness of authentic nursing knowledge Benner (1984) Novice to Expert Established the usefulness of the qualitative approach in nursing

4. PARADIGM OR METHOD? Positivists/Empirical/ Naturalist Reality is measurable Researcher/Subject independent Objective and Value-free Generalizable to population Cause and Effect (linear) Nomothetic : proposition of the law Phenomenologists/Hermeneutics/ Anti-naturalist Multiple realities (not controlled, but understood) Researcher/Subject interact and influence each other Subjective and Values bound Not generalizable, but leads to a working hypothesis No cause/effect; too many factors to be distinguishable Idiographic: discovery of facts and processes Quantitative Qualitative Adapted from 1985 book Naturalistic Inquiry by Yvonna Lincoln and Egan Guba

5. BRIDGING THE DIVIDE Goodwin and Goodwin (1984): Triangulation: Qualitative and qualitative are methods (not paradigms) Used together to strengthened conclusions Phillips (1988): Theory and methods are distinct (paradigms not methods) Twinn (2003) “Positivists and constructionists” are both needed in nursing research

6. FOOD FOR THOUGHT… What is the relationship between theory, methodology, and methods?

7. REFERENCES Risjord, M. (2010). The Rise of Qualitative Research. In Nursing knowledge: Science, practice, and philosophy. Ames, Iowa: Wiley Blackwell.