Qualitative Research in Nursing and Healthcare

Preface xiii About the Authors xv Acknowledgement xvii Part One: Introduction to Qualitative Research: Starting Out 1 The Essentials of Qualitative Research 3 What is qualitative research? 3 The characteristics of qualitative research 3 The primacy of data 4 Contextualisation 5 Immersion in the setting 5 The ‘emic’ perspective 6 Thick description 7 The research relationship 8 Insider/outsider research 9 Reflexivity 9 The place of theory in qualitative research 11 The use of qualitative research in healthcare 11 Choosing an approach for health research 13 References 14 Further Reading 16 2 The Paradigm Debate: The Place of Qualitative Research 17 Theoretical frameworks and ontological position 17 The natural science model: positivism objectivism and value neutrality 18 The paradigm debate 19 The interpretive/descriptive approach 21 Focus on postmodernism and social constructionism 23 Conflicting or complementary perspectives? 24 Final comment 25 References 25 Further Reading 26 3 Initial Steps in the Research Process 27 Selecting and formulating the research question 27 Practical issues 31 The research design and choice of approach 31 The literature review 32 Writing a research proposal 35 Access and entry to the setting 41 Summary 44 References 44 Further Reading 45 4 Ethical Issues 47 The foundational ethical framework for research 49 Ethics in qualitative research 52 Interviews and observations 53 The participant information sheet 60 Researching one’s peers 62 The research relationship 62 Research in the researcher’s workplace 64 The role of research ethics committees 64 Reviewing the research project 66 Key ethical questions: audiotaped interviews 66 Summary 70 References 70 Further Reading 72 5 Supervision of Qualitative Research 73 The responsibilities of supervisor and student 74 Writing and relationships 76 Practical aspects of supervision 78 Single or joint supervision 79 Problems with supervision 80 Academic problems 81 Final notes 82 Summary 83 References 83 Further Reading 83 Part Two: Data Collection and Sampling 6 Interviewing 87 Interviews as sources of data 87 The interview process 88 Types of interview 89 Contents vii Practical considerations 92 Recording interview data 96 The interviewer–participant relationship 98 Problematic issues and challenges in interviewing 99 Ethical issues in interviewing 103 Summary 105 References 105 Further Reading 106 7 Observation and Documents as Sources of Data 107 Participant observation 107 The origins of participant observation 108 Immersion in culture and setting 108 Types of observation 111 Problems in observation 116 Technical procedures and practical hints 117 Documentary sources of data 118 Summary 122 References 122 Further Reading 123 8 Focus Group Research (FGR) 125 The nature and features of focus group research 125 The origin and purpose of focus groups 127 Focus group research in healthcare 127 Sample size and composition 128 Conducting focus group discussions 131 Research with online or virtual focus groups 133 Recording analysing and reporting focus group data 134 Critical comments on focus group research in healthcare 138 Summary 138 References 139 Further Reading 140 9 Sampling Strategies 141 Sampling decisions 141 A variety of sampling types 145 Inclusion and exclusion criteria 150 Sampling parameters 150 Sample size 151 Saturation 152 Giving a label to the participants 153 Summary 154 References 154 Further Reading 155 Part Three: Approaches in Qualitative Research 10 Ethnography 159 The development of ethnography 160 Ethnographic methods 162 Ethnography in healthcare 163 The main features of ethnography 165 Fieldwork 169 Doing and writing ethnography 172 Analysis 172 Interpretation 174 Pitfalls and problems 175 Summary 176 References 176 Further Reading 178 11 Grounded Theory Methodology 179 History and origin 180 Symbolic interactionism 181 The main features of grounded theory 181 Data collection theoretical sampling and analysis 183 The three main approaches 189 Using the literature 190 Integration of theory 192 Theoretical memos and fieldnotes 192 Pitfalls and problems 193 Which approach for the health researcher? 196 Summary 197 References 197 Further Reading 199 12 Narrative Inquiry 201 The nature of narrative and story 201 Narrative research 202 Narratives in health research 202 The everyday story 206 Autobiographical and biographical stories 206 Cultural stories 207 Collective stories 207 Illness narratives 208 The restitution narrative 209 The chaos narrative 210 The quest narrative 210 Narrative interviewing 211 Narrative analysis 212 Contents ix Thematic and holistic analysis 213 Structural analysis 214 Dialogic/performance analysis 215 Visual analysis 216 Ongoing debates about narrative 216 Summary 218 References 218 Further Reading 220 13 Phenomenology 221 Intentionality and the early stages of phenomenology 222 Phases and history of the movement 223 The German phase 224 The French phase 226 Schools of phenomenology 227 The phenomenological research process: doing phenomenology 228 Grounding 228 Reflexivity and positional knowledge 229 Humanisation and the language of experience 229 Phenomenology and health research 231 Topics for phenomenological approaches 232 Choice of approach: descriptive or interpretive phenomenology 233 Procedures for data collection and analysis 235 Summary 238 References 238 Further Reading 241 14 Action Research 243 The origins of action research 244 Critical social theory 245 Action research in healthcare 246 The main features of action research 247 The methodological continuum 248 Practical steps 250 Trustworthiness in AR 252 Problems and critique 253 Summary 255 References 255 Further Reading 256 15 Additional Approaches 259 Case study research 259 Overview 260 Features and purpose of case study research 260 Conversation analysis 262 The origins of conversation analysis 263 The use of conversation analysis 263 Discourse analysis 265 Critical discourse analysis (CDA) 267 Performative social science 269 PSS in health research 270 Summary 271 References 272 Further Reading 275 Discourse Analysis 275 Further Reading 276 Performative Social Science 276 Further Reading 277 Part Four: Data Analysis and Completion 16 Data Analysis: Strategies and Procedures 281 Transcribing and sorting 283 Taking notes and writing analytic memos 284 Ordering and organising the data 285 Analytical styles 286 Coding and categorizing 287 Thematic analysis 288 Meaning and Gestalt 289 Problems of QDA 289 Inferential leaps and ‘premature closure’ 289 Collaboration in the process of analysis and interpretation 290 Computer- aided analysis of qualitative data 290 The reasons for computer use 291 Storing annotating and retrieving texts 292 Locating words phrases or segments of data 292 Naming or labelling 292 Sorting and organising 292 Identifying data units 293 Preparing diagrams 293 Approaches to qualitative computer analysis 293 Language- oriented 293 Descriptive/interpretive approaches 293 Theory building 294 The practicalities of using computer- aided analysis 294 Advantages of computer use 295 Problems and critique of computer analysis 295 Summary 296 References 297 Further Reading 298 17 Establishing Quality: Validity and Trustworthiness 299 Quality 299 Conventional criteria 300 Rigour 300 Reliability 300 Validity 301 Generalisability or external validity 302 Objectivity and subjectivity 303 The concept of validity in qualitative research 304 An alternative perspective: trustworthiness 305 Dependability 305 Credibility 305 Transferability 305 Confirmability 306 Authenticity 306 Strategies to ensure trustworthiness 307 Member checking 307 Searching for negative cases and alternative explanations 309 Peer review 310 Triangulation 310 The audit or decision trail 311 Thick description 312 Prolonged engagement 312 Reflexivity 313 Quality and creativity 313 Summary 314 References 314 Further Reading 315 18 Writing up and Publishing Qualitative Research 317 The research account 317 Use of the first person 318 The format of the report 319 Title 320 Abstract 321 Acknowledgement and dedication 323 Contents 323 Introduction 323 Entry issues and ethical considerations 324 Methodology and research design 325 Findings/results and discussion 326 Conclusion and implications 328 Referencing 330 Appendices 330 Critical assessment and evaluation 331 Guide to research evaluation 331 Publishing and presenting the research 332 Books 333 Articles 333 Types of article 334 Alternative forms of presenting or disseminating the research 335 Summary 336 References 336 Further Reading 337 Final Note 339 Glossary 341 Index 347