Qualitative Research in Practice : Stories From the Field - Blogs Unpad
Qualitative Research in Practice : Stories From the Field - Blogs Unpad
Qualitative Research in Practice : Stories From the Field - Blogs Unpad
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<strong>Qualitative</strong> research <strong>in</strong> practice<br />
<strong>the</strong>sis I had two children of my own and so I was a<br />
client of <strong>the</strong> maternal and child health service myself,<br />
although my nurses were not <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> study of course.<br />
But I kept notes on my own experiences of <strong>the</strong> service<br />
and although I had not <strong>in</strong>tended <strong>the</strong>se notes to be<br />
a data source, this added an <strong>in</strong>formal participantobservation<br />
dimension to <strong>the</strong> study which ultimately<br />
proved to be extremely valuable <strong>in</strong> understand<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong><br />
subtle nuances and ‘unconscious dynamics’ of <strong>the</strong><br />
nurse–mo<strong>the</strong>r relationship. This research stimulated<br />
my curiosity about practice wisdom or cl<strong>in</strong>ical judgement<br />
and that has cont<strong>in</strong>ued to be a great <strong>in</strong>terest.<br />
Cheryl Tilse—The long goodbye<br />
This is a study of <strong>the</strong> experiences of older people who place a<br />
spouse <strong>in</strong> an aged care facility and <strong>the</strong> conditions of <strong>the</strong> facility<br />
which shape <strong>the</strong> nature of <strong>the</strong> experiences of visitors (Tilse, 1996). It<br />
<strong>in</strong>volved several methods of data collection, <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>-depth<br />
<strong>in</strong>terviews, observation, semi-structured <strong>in</strong>terviews and document<br />
analysis. We talk with Cheryl later about her use of observation, <strong>the</strong><br />
usefulness of comb<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g qualitative data collection approaches,<br />
analys<strong>in</strong>g data, writ<strong>in</strong>g up and dissem<strong>in</strong>ation of f<strong>in</strong>d<strong>in</strong>gs.<br />
Cheryl:<br />
I was work<strong>in</strong>g as a research assistant on a large project<br />
look<strong>in</strong>g at <strong>the</strong> social, emotional and economic costs of<br />
dementia and part of that had been semi-structured<br />
<strong>in</strong>terviews with 243 people who were car<strong>in</strong>g for a<br />
relative with dementia. I was particularly <strong>in</strong>terested<br />
<strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>in</strong>terviews I did with spouses who had placed<br />
a partner <strong>in</strong> a nurs<strong>in</strong>g home. I felt that <strong>the</strong> semistructured<br />
<strong>in</strong>terviews really hadn’t captured just how<br />
traumatic <strong>the</strong> experience was for <strong>the</strong>m. So I became<br />
very <strong>in</strong>terested <strong>in</strong> understand<strong>in</strong>g what it was all about<br />
from <strong>the</strong>ir perspective ...I was particularly concerned<br />
about what happens to people who’ve been married<br />
for 50, 60 years when <strong>the</strong>y have this <strong>in</strong>voluntary separation,<br />
when one partner goes <strong>in</strong>to a nurs<strong>in</strong>g home. I<br />
was <strong>in</strong>terested <strong>in</strong> follow<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong>ir experiences and understand<strong>in</strong>g<br />
what it was like for <strong>the</strong>m to try and cont<strong>in</strong>ue<br />
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