Qualitative research design in nursing research

Qualitative research design in nursing research

1. College of Education
School of Continuing and Distance Education
2014/2015 –2016/2017
NURS 345
NURSING RESEARCH
Session 1 –Qualitative research designs
Lecturer: Dr. Florence Naab
Contact Information: [email protected]

2. Session Overview
•The choice of research approach and design depends on the
type of research problem identified. If the problem identified
seeks to understand human experiences, then the
appropriate approach will be qualitative. This session
discusses various designs used to investigate qualitative
problems. By the end of the session, students will be able to:
1.Describe the features of qualitative research designs
2.Explain the different type of qualitative designs.
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3. Session Outline
The key topics to be covered in the session are as follows:
Topic one: Definition and characteristics of qualitative designs
Topic two: Types of qualitative designs
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4. Reading List
Chapter 10 of;
Nieswiadomy, R.M (2008). Foundations of Nursing Research.
5th Ed. Pearson Education, USA.
Chapter 10 of;
Creswell, J. W. (2003). Research Design: Qualitative,
quantitative, Mixed Methods Approaches.2
nd
Ed. Sage
Publications
Slide 4

5. DEFINITION AND CHARACTERISTICS
OF QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
Topic One
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6. What is qualitative research?
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7. What is qualitative research?
•Is a research approach that aims at gathering in-depth
understanding of a phenomenon under investigation.
•Qualitative research uses procedures that depend on text
and image data and have unique steps in data analysis.
•Provides thick descriptions of people’s experiences of a
phenomenon of interest.
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8. Characteristics of qualitative research
designs
•Qualitative designs are:
–Flexible, meaning they can be adjusted through out the
research process.
–Capable of merging various methods of data collection.
–Used for understanding the whole rather than a piece.
–Focused on understanding the phenomena under study.
–Such that the researcher is required to be actively
involved.
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9. Characteristics of qualitative designs
cont.
•Qualitative research,
–takes place in the natural setting.
–uses multiple methods that are interactive and
humanistic.
–Views the phenomenon under investigation holistically.
–Uses both inductive and deductive reasoning processes.
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10. TYPES OF QUALITATIVE DESIGNS
Topic Two
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11. Types of qualitative designs
•There are many qualitative designs, but the following are
the most popular:
–Ethnography
–Phenomenology
–Hermeneutics
–Grounded theory
NOTE: Each of the above will be elaborated in subsequent slides
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12. What is ethnography?
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13. What is ethnography?
•Ethnography is the study of cultural behavior or an
ethnic group of people.
•Ethnography provides a framework for
understanding the meanings, patterns and
experiences of a defined cultural group.
•This design involves the description and
interpretation of cultural behavior.
•The design is used based on the assumption that
every human group has a culture.
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14. Purpose of ethnography
•Ethnography is used to:
–Understand the worldview of a cultural group as they
define it.
–Seek understanding of a culture from an insider’s view
(emic perspective)and an outsider’s view (etic
perspective).
–Provide a holistic understanding of a cultural group.
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15. Ethnographic assumptions
•Ethnography is used under the assumptions that:
–Culture guides people’s view of the world
–Because culture is not tangible, it must be constructed
through ethnographic writing/
–There is an essence in culture that can be understood.
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16. Sources of ethnographic data
•Observations
•In-depth interviews
•Records (audio and video)
•Charts
•Photographs
•Diaries
•Letters
•Field note
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17. What is phenomenology?
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18. Phenomenology
•Is the study of the lived experiences of people about
a phenomenon of interest.
•Phenomenology is used to investigate subjective
phenomena.
•Focuses on people’s experiences about a phenomena
and how they interpret those experiences e.gthe
experience of living with HIV/AIDs can only be
described by an HIV positive individual. Also, the guy
in the previous slide is the only one who can narrate
what it means to be in a wheel chair
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19. Assumptions of phenomenology
•The use of phenomenology is based on the following
assumptions
–Essential truths about reality are embedded in people’s
lived experiences.
–Lived experience gives meaning to each person’s
perception of a phenomenon.
–Human existence is meaningful because of conscious
experience of the world.
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20. Source of phenomenological data
•In-depth interviews in which the researcher and the
participant are active members.
–In these interviews, the researcher helps the participant to
describe lived experiences through open ended questions
without leading the discussion.
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21. What is hermeneutics?
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22. What is hermeneutics?
•As shown in the picture of the previous slide,
hermeneutics is the art or theory of interpretation
•It is a design that uses the lived experience of people
as a tool to understand social, cultural, political or
historical context within which those experiences
occurred.
•This design focuses on meaning and interpretation of
the experience within context.
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23. Assumptions of hermeneutics
•This design is used based on the following
assumptions:
–The closer one is to the source of the text, the more valid
the interpretation may be.
–Data and interpretations depend on context and process.
–Meanings are established through social interaction.
–Meanings are employed, managed and changed through
interaction.
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24. Sources of hermeneutic data
•Interviews
•Letters
•Books
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25. What is grounded theory design?
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26. Grounded theory cont.
•Grounded theory is a design that aims at generating
a theory from data collected.
•It is an approach to the study of social processes and
social structures.
•Grounded theory is applied when there is a lack of
theory and concepts to explain a phenomenon under
study.
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27. Sources of data for grounded theory
•Interviews
•Field notes
•Observation
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28. Summary and conclusion
•This session discussed characteristics of qualitative
designs and different types of qualitative designs
•The next session will discussed quantitative research
designs
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29. References
Creswell, J. W. (2003). Research Design: Qualitative,
quantitative, Mixed Methods Approaches.2
nd
Ed. Sage
Publications
Nieswiadomy, R.M (2008). Foundations of Nursing Research.
5th Ed. Pearson Education, USA.
Polit, D. F. and Beck, C.T (2008). Nursing Research: Generating
and Assessing Evidence for Nursing Practice. 8th Ed.
Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, USA.
Robsin, C. (2002). Real World Research: A Resource for Social
Scientist and Practitioner-Researchers. 2nd Ed. ISBN,
USA.
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