Qualitative Research in Nursing and Healthcare

Qualitative Research in Nursing and Healthcare is an invaluable resource for those who carry out qualitative research in the healthcare arena. It is intended to assist: Professionals and academics in the healthcare field who undertake or teach research in clinical or educational settings; Postgraduates who are undertaking qualitative research and want to revise qualitative research approaches and procedures before going on to more specialist texts; and Undergraduates in their last year who wish to learn about qualitative perspectives or carry out a project using these approaches. Fully updated from the earlier editions by Holloway and Wheeler, it reflects recent developments in nursing research. This new edition provides clear explanations of abstract ideas in qualitative research as well as practical procedures. Structured into four sections, the book looks at the initial stages, methods of data collection, qualitative approaches and analysis of collected data. It also contains a chapter on writing up and publishing qualitative research. With applied and practical examples throughout, Qualitative Research in Nursing and Healthcare is essential reading for those who are looking for a comprehensive introduction to qualitative research.  

Table of Contents:
Preface, xi About the Authors, xiii Acknowledgements, xv Part One: Introduction to Qualitative Research: Starting Out 1 The Main Features and Uses of Qualitative Research, 3 What is qualitative research?, 3 The characteristics of qualitative research, 3 The place of theory in qualitative research, 10 The use of qualitative research in healthcare, 12 Choosing an approach for health research, 14 Problematic issues in qualitative research, 15 Conclusion, 17 Summary, 18 References, 18 Further Reading, 20 2 The Paradigm Debate: The Place of Qualitative Research, 21 Theoretical frameworks and ontological position, 21 The paradigm debate, 23 Conflicting or complementary perspectives?, 27 Final comment, 29 References, 29 Further Reading, 30 3 Initial Steps in the Research Process, 31 Selecting and formulating the research question, 31 The literature review, 36 Writing a research proposal, 39 Access and entry to the setting, 45 Summary, 48 References, 48 Further Reading, 49 4 Ethical Issues, 51 The basic ethical framework for research, 52 Ethics in qualitative research, 55 Researching one’s peers, 62 The research relationship, 62 Research in the researcher’s workplace, 64 The role of research ethics committees, 65 Summary, 69 References, 69 Further Reading, 71 5 Supervision of Qualitative Research, 73 The responsibilities of supervisor and student, 74 Writing and relationships, 76 Practical aspects of supervision, 77 Single or joint supervision, 79 Problems with supervision, 80 Summary, 82 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 Probing, prompting and summarising, 93 The social context of the interview, 94 Unexpected outcomes: qualitative interviewing and therapy, 95 Length and timing of interviews, 95 Recording interview data, 96 The interviewer–participant relationship, 98 Problematic issues and challenges in interviewing, 99 Interviewing through electronic media, 100 Ethical issues in interviewing, 103 Strengths and weaknesses of interviewing, 103 Summary, 105 References, 105 Further Reading, 106 7 Participant Observation and Documents as Sources of Data, 107 Participant observation, 107 The origins of participant observation, 108 Immersion in culture and setting, 108 Documentary sources of data, 118 Images as sources of data, 121 Summary, 122 References, 122 Further Reading, 123 8 Focus Groups as Qualitative Research, 125 What is a focus group?, 125 The origin and purpose of focus groups, 127 Sample size and composition, 128 Conducting focus group interviews, 131 Analysing and reporting focus group data, 133 Advantages and limitations of focus groups, 135 Critical comments on focus group interviews in healthcare, 136 Summary, 137 References, 137 Further Reading, 139 9 Sampling Strategies, 141 Sampling decisions, 141 Purposeful (or purposive) sampling, 143 A variety of sampling types, 145 Giving a label to the participants, 152 Summary, 153 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 Pitfalls and problems, 175 Summary, 175 References, 176 Further Reading, 177 11 Grounded Theory, 179 History and origin, 179 The main features of grounded theory, 181 Data collection, theoretical sampling and analysis, 182 Pitfalls and problems, 191 Glaser’s critique and further development, 192 Constructivist grounded theory, 194 Which approach for the health researcher?, 195 Summary, 195 References, 196 Further Reading, 197 12 Narrative Inquiry, 199 The nature of narrative and story, 199 Narrative research, 200 Illness narratives, 205 Narrative interviewing, 208 Narrative analysis, 210 Problematic issues, 213 Conclusion, 214 Summary, 215 References, 215 Further Reading, 217 13 Phenomenology, 219 Intentionality and the early stages of phenomenology, 220 Schools of phenomenology, 225 The phenomenological research process: doing phenomenology, 226 Phenomenology and health research, 229 Choice of approach: descriptive or interpretive phenomenology, 230 Procedures for data collection and analysis, 232 Summary, 235 References, 235 Further Reading, 238 14 Action Research, 239 The origins of action research, 240 Action research in healthcare, 242 The main features of action research, 243 Practical steps, 246 Trustworthiness in AR, 247 Problems and critique, 248 Summary, 250 References, 250 Further Reading, 252 15 Additional Approaches, 253 Case Study Research (CSR), 253 Overview, 253 Features and purpose of case study research, 254 Conversation analysis, 256 Critical incident technique, 259 Discourse analysis, 261 Performative social science, 265 Summary, 268 References, 268 16 Mixing Methods, 273 The nature of mixed methods studies, 273 Doing mixed methods research, 275 Types of mixed methods research, 275 The place and purpose of the literature, 279 Triangulation, 280 Critique of MMR, 280 Conclusion, 281 Summary, 281 References, 282 Further Reading, 283 Part Four: Data Analysis and Completion 17 Data Analysis: Procedures, Practices and Use of Computers, 287 Coding and categorising, 292 Problems of QDA, 294 Computer-aided analysis of qualitative data, 295 Summary, 301 References, 301 Further Reading, 302 18 Establishing Quality: Trustworthiness and Validity, 303 Quality, 303 An alternative perspective: trustworthiness, 309 Strategies to ensure trustworthiness, 310 Quality and creativity, 316 Summary, 317 References, 317 Further Reading, 319 19 Writing up Qualitative Research, 321 The research account, 321 Use of the first person, 322 The format of the report, 323 Introduction, 327 Critical assessment and evaluation, 334 Guide to research evaluation, 334 Publishing and presenting the research, 335 Summary, 338 References, 339 Further Reading, 340 Final Note, 341 Glossary, 343 Index, 349