The 'doctor'or the 'girl from the University'? Considering the influence of professional roles on qualitative interviewing (original) (raw)
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A reflection on ten years experience of providing qualitative research training in primary care
Primary Health Care Research and Development, 2007
Aims: To gain structured feedback on a qualitative research methods training programme delivered to primary care researchers over a period of ten years. To examine dilemmas and challenges and how these had been resolved. To examine how the programme could be further developed. Background: The Wolds Primary Care Research Network's (WoReN) qualitative research methods training programme was developed and evolved in response to the needs of primary care practitioners and researchers and the NHS Research Agenda. Methods: Information on participants' professional backgrounds: which workshops they attended; their evaluation sheets, comments; and personal appraisals were collected from 1996 to 2006. Structured telephone conversations with a number of participants and ongoing informal feedback from participants added to this information. Numbers and ranges of professionals attending workshops were ascertained, how far they travelled to workshops and further degrees obtained by them, within the decade, were also noted. Findings: We found a lack of similar training elsewhere. A wide range of people attended workshops, especially general practitioners (GP) and academic researchers. Other practitioners were a significant presence however, and included nurses, pharmacists, health visitors and professions allied to medicine. Participants were prepared to attend extended workshops and to travel significant distances to them. Participants preferred a continuous cycle of workshops rather than discreet sessions, in order for them to consolidate their learning and to develop at their own pace. Practical exercises reflecting the qualitative research process were considered very conducive to learning and participants also appreciated one-to-one consultations about their work and longer-term, ongoing support as they progressed through their projects. Workshop design needed to continually reflect the changing requirements of participants, employers, funders, potential trainers and national NHS requirements. A new audience for training was identified in supervisors not versed in the qualitative paradigm.
Wiener klinische Wochenschrift, 2016
Health services research, especially in primary care, is challenging because the systems differ widely between countries. This study aimed to explore the different understanding of the terminology used, particularly, regarding the professions nursing and medical secretaries. The study was an add-on study to the Quality and Costs in Primary Care (QUALICOPC) project in Austria and designed as qualitative research. The qualitative phase was conducted by using semi-structured telephone interviews with general practitioners (GP). and17 GPs participated in the study. No uniform meaning of the terms commonly utilized for the abovementioned health professions could be found among Austrian GPs. For example, under the profession term practice assistants, nurses as well as literal medical secretaries with and without special education and related work competencies and responsibilities were subsumed. Our study results show that no uniform meaning of the terms commonly utilized for above describ...
International Journal of Caring Sciences, 2019
This paper explores the value and limitations of in-depth qualitative interviews as a research method within healthcare practice and education. It challenges the common view that interviewing is a simple and unproblematic approach to data collection and highlights a range of structural, contextual, operational, intrapersonal, interpersonal and ethical factors which those intending to undertake such research should take into consideration when planning interviews. It also emphasises the fundamental need for those involved in interviewing to develop critical reflexivity.
Practitioner, Researcher, and Gender Conflict in a Qualitative Study
Qualitative Health Research, 1999
This article is a reflexive analysis of a grounded theory study, and it addresses certain dilemmas inherent in a research design in which the authors, being family physicians, interviewed their own women patients. Interview situations featuring tension and contradictions were identified. The interviewers' reactions were scrutinized and related to the interaction of the research. It was detected that the interviewers reacted according to three different positions-as physicians, women, and researchers-and an awareness of this was crucial to the interpretations. Power asymmetry was found to be an aggravating circumstance in the interviews. However, it was possible to reduce it by discussing it with the participants. These findings contribute to the knowledge about interaction in research interviews and clinical consultations. The analysis also contributed to an understanding of the participants' experiences.
Engaging physicians, benefiting patients: a qualitative study
where he also works as a GP. His particular interests in health services research include Mental Health and studies of innovation. Julia Hiscock has worked as a qualitative researcher for fifteen years, most of which has been in the health and employment sectors. Her research experience spans academic and independent sectors as well as international organisations and includes directing a health research unit and teaching qualitative research methods. She is the qualitative researcher in the Mersey Primary Care Consortium and a member of the University of Liverpool Fit for Work Research Group. Paula Hodgson lectures on the Sociology of Health and Illness within the Medical School, University of Liverpool and undertakes qualitative research. Her research is primarily in the field of primary care and includes a number of studies looking at GP and patient interactions, including attitudes and behaviour.
2017
In 2012, I conducted my first PhD study exploring general practitioners' attitudes toward online patient feedback. After designing the research questions and topic guide to conduct the interviews, I reviewed existing literature where authors described recruiting general practitioners to take part in research. I found there was some focus in the literature on the challenges associated with low general practitioner participation in survey-based and intervention studies, but little that described the process, experience, and challenges associated with recruiting general practitioners to take part in qualitative research. Although general practitioners are known to be a difficult group to recruit to take part in research, the recruitment process I experienced was much more challenging than I had anticipated. This case study sheds light on my experience of recruiting 20 general practitioners in England to an interview-based study, and outlines a critical reflection on the eight strategies used for recruitment. I started by using traditional methods such as postal invitations and faxes to recruit general practitioners. Due to the very low success rate, I resorted to using more inexpensive and creative methods, such as sending an invitation letter through email, advertising in general practitioner Email Newsletters, seeking help from existing research networks, recruiting through friends and acquaintances, and using social media. In this case study, I also describe the participants' (general practitioners') motivations for taking part in the study, and I conclude with offering suggestions on how to maximize response rates to general practitioner-based qualitative studies in England. Learning Outcomes By the end of the case, students should be able to Have a better understanding of the potential challenges faced when recruiting general practitioners (GPs) to take part in research Understand that sometimes probability sampling cannot be used due to difficulties with recruiting Learn to be creative and flexible when recruiting participants to research Understand the strategies and approaches that could be used to increase GP participation in research Project Overview and Context In 2012, I embarked on conducting a qualitative interview study with general practitioners (GPs), exploring their attitudes toward online patient feedback. GPs are the first point of call for patients in the United Kingdom. They treat all common medical conditions and refer patients to hospitals or other medical services for specialist or urgent care. Once my research questions and interview topic guide was designed, I focused my energies on exploring what strategies I should use for recruiting GPs to the study and what type of response rate I should expect.