Exploring the benefits of a subjective approach in qualitative nursing research (original) (raw)

The challenge for qualitative research in nursing.

British Journal of Community Nursing , 1998

A common consensus regarding the way in which qualitative and quantitative approaches to research are viewed within nursing has existed unchanged for many years, i.e. the quantitive or positivistic research paradigm has traditionally been viewed as being more scientific, logical, rigorous and superior to the naturalistic/qualitative approach. Indeed, there is little evidence to refute the suggestion that these two approaches are perceived as being separate to, and independent of, each other. This article suggests that this long-standing division has served to create many of the problems and barriers surrounding qualitative research in nursing. One of the main reasons for this division results from the inherent interpretation of each approach and also the perceptions of nurse researchers. Qualitative research is traditionally viewed as the weaker of the two approaches and therefore qualitative researchers are often left to actively promote the standing and credibility of this research paradigm. This article aims to identify how nurse researchers can strive to resolve the imbalance that frequently exists between these two paradigms and, consequently, redress any related misconceptions within the nursing profession.

Reflexivity in 'sensitive' qualitative research: Unfurling knowledge for nursing

2008

Sensitive research presents particular challenges for the qualitative researcher because it involves topics that are stressful and may cause emotional pain for both the participants and researcher (McCosker & Berber, 2001). This paper presents challenges I have experienced in researching with registered nurse participants, who like me, had cared for a dying family member in palliative care. The research was inspired by my curiosity about what it was like for other nurses living within their family and community as a nurse and how they managed the complexities caring for a dying family member brought to their lives. Face to face interviews with these nurses made me aware of the participants’ vulnerability, and my own, in sharing experiences about loss and bereavement. As the interviews progressed I realized how much I shared the participants’ culture; linguistically, relationally and experientially (Harper, 2003). While shared identities and experiences give qualitative nurse researc...

Concerns in Qualitative Research and Nursing Science

Qualitative research methods become increasingly popular in nursing. However, most of nursing students have been argued and debated regarding issue and the meaning of qualitative research in nursing science. This article note discusses the qualitative aspects and concerns.

The variety of qualitative research. Part one: introduction to the problem

Nurse Education Today, 1997

For a number of reasons qualitative techniques have taken firm root in nursing research generally and are of growing importance in research undertaken by nurse educators. But there is a great deal of confusion about the nature of the data which are produced by qualitative research, the way such data must be handled, and the use to which such data can be put. The confusion often results from a failure to differentiate between several orientations to qualitative data. Positivist research may use qualitative data (something not always recognized). It presupposes that there is some underlying, true, unequivocal reality, and a theory covering this is to be sought by the research. There must be evidence of validity-in the sense of a match between the data and the reality they are supposed to reveal. Non-positivist research is of a number of kinds, despite often being treated as unified. These will be treated in the second part of this paper.

The nurse researcher: an added dimension to qualitative research methodology

Nursing Inquiry, 1996

The nurse researcher: an added dimension to qualitative research methodology Nurse researchers are increasingly adopting qualitative methodologies for research practice and theory development, These approaches to research are. in many cases, more appropriate for the field of nursing inquiry than the previously dominant techno-rational methods. However, there remains the issue of adapting methodologies developed in other academic disciplines to the nursing research context. This paper draws upon my own experience with interpretive research to raise questions about the issue of nursing research within a social science research framework. The paper argues that by integrating the characteristics of nursing practice with the characteristics of research practice, the researcher can develop a 'nursing lens', an approach to qualitative research that brings an added dimension to social science methodologies in the nursing research context. Attention is drawn to the unique nature of the nurse-patient relationship, and the ways in which this aspect of nursing practice can enhance nursing research. Examples are given from interview transcripts to support this position.

Subjectivity and reflexivity in qualitative research – a new FQS

2018

By publishing two FQS issues on “Subjectivity and Reflexivity in Qualitative Research”, we address a topic that is central for modern science. On the one hand, there are many demands from philosophy of science and there are numerous methods that aim at eliminating researchers' impact on the research process except in controlled treatments. On the other hand, the insight spread that researchers, in continuously interacting with those being researched, inevitably influence and structure research processes and their outcomes – through their personal and professional characteristics, by leaning on theories and methods available at a special time and place in their (sub-) cultures, disciplines and nations. This is especially (but not exclusively) true for qualitative research, because qualitative methods are less structured than quantitative methods, and qualitative researchers interact for most part very closely with research participants in their respective research fields. 1 We th...

The variety of qualitative research. Part two: non-positivist approaches

Nurse Education Today, 1997

For a number of reasons qualitative techniques have taken firm root in nursing research generally and are of growing importance in research undertaken by nurse educators. But there is a great deal of confusion about the nature of the data which are produced by qualitative research, the way such data must be handled, and the use to which such data can be put. The confusion often results from a failure to differentiate between several orientations to qualitative data. In the previous paper Positivist research was discussed. Non-positivist research is of a number of kinds, despite often being treated as unified. Examples are: (a) descriptive ('phenomenological') research-which seeks to give a faithful account of an area of experience or of an aspect of the 'life-world'; (b) interpretative ('hermeneutic') researchwhich aims to show ways of making sense of experience; and (c) discourse analysiswhich draws out the socially available modes of thinking and action which reveal themselves in qualitative data.