Qualitative Research Flashcards
What does qualitative research help researchers understand?
Factors which influence how people act
Understandings of health and illness
Patient and provider experience of healthcare
What does qualitative research aim to create when investigating patient experiences?
Patient reported outcomes
What aspects of patient experiences might be investigated in qualitative research?
Patient priorities vs clinical priorities
Problematic aspects of medicine
Experiences of novel or trial interventions
How would qualitative research be defined?
Anything which informs on understanding, attitudes or experience, in-depth
What are the two most common qualitative methods?
Interviews
FOcus groups
Give 3 examples of other qualitative methods
Observation
Analysis of patient-produced materials
Analysis of written documents
How does the sample in a qualitative study differ from that in a quantitative study?
Qualitative research uses a purposive sample, which has been specifically identified and picked, whereas quantitative research uses a representative sample
Give the five main approaches to qualitative research
Grounded theory
Ethnography
Case Study
Narrative
Phenomenology
What is the Grounded Theory approach?
Develop a hypothesis based on data found from the field
What is the Ethnography approach?
An observational approach, where one describes/interprets a cultural or social group
What is the Case Study approach?
The in-depth analysis of a single case, or comparison of multiple cases
What is the Narrative approach?
Eliciting the meaning of experiences which are expressed as stories
What is the Phenomenology approach?
A philosophical approach to identify what shaped the experience of a phenomenon
What is purposive sampling?
Sampling participants for a specific demographic, which aims to answer the question
When selecting participants, which patients is it important to recruit?
Patients who are rarely heard
Information-rich patients
Not just patients for whom taking part is easy
What three features define the iterative approach to data collection?
Collection of data concurrently with analysis
Change methods according to findings
Modify aspects of the research question
How should the iterative approach be used?
Repeat cycles of data collection and analysis, and use results to influence further collection methods
What point should iterative data collection stop if using the Grounded Theory approach?
Until the saturation point has been reached, meaning additional interviews do not add new insights
What is the most common form of qualitative analysis?
Thematic analysis
Outline the process of thematic analysis
Transcripts of interviews are coded according to topics raised by patients
Main topics are identified
Most important topics are those which were not researcher led
Interpretation
What is the Big Q approach to viewing healthcare?
As a dynamic social activity
What is the small q approach to viewing healthcare?
The focus is on a specific health condition, intervention etc
What aspect of a patient’s mentality does Big Q investigate?
Big Q asks why patients think and behave in certain ways
What aspect of a patient’s mentality does small q investigate?
A patient’s understandings and needs
How do Big Q studies carry out their research?
Critical appraisal of patients’ and researchers’ accounts, asking why they are expressing themselves in that way, and is it because a wider social pattern tells us to?
How do small q studies carry out their research?
In a more pragmatic manner than Big Q studies, possibly with the use of quantitative methods
What are five uses of qualitative research?
Understanding the experience of living with a condition
Understanding the help-seeking process
As part of a clinical trial
To generate Patient Reported Outcome Measures
Guideline development
Why are qualitative studies into understanding the experience of living with a condition useful?
To help with communication and careplanning
To explore the meaning of illness for different patients
Why are qualitative studies into understanding help-seeking useful?
To increase awareness, generate campaigns, and educate patients in a targeted manner
What are some reasons patients might consult?
Persistence of symptoms
Effect on AODL
They are told to by someone close to them
What are some reasons patients choose not to consult?
Embarrassment
Perception of difficult to see a GP
Give four ways in which qualitative research can help in a clinical trial
During the development of the intervention, to make sure it is meaningful
To ensure feasibility and acceptability in the pilot phase
To explore the experience of receiving and administering the intervention
To help explain the outcomes of why the intervention worked or no
How does patient/public involvement differ to qualitative studies?
Patient/public involvement is when service users help the researchers develop intervention themselves
What are the advantages of qualitative research over patient/public involvement?
Qualitative research has a wider range of perspectives, due to purposive sampling
Qualitative research does not have an ongoing relationship between participants and researchers, therefore do not feel guilty or less inclined in critiquing the trial
What are Patient Reported Outcome Measures?
Questionnaires done by patients about health and quality of life, particularly post-intervention
How do PROMs differ from satisfaction surveys?
PROMs look at the outcomes from the intervention which are important to each patient specifically, even if they aren’t the same as the clinical priorities
Give some decision-making criteria other than effectiveness, which are valued by stakeholders
Gender
Human rights impacts
Equity of the intervention
Acceptability and feasibility of interventions
What four things are assessed when appraising a qualitative study?
Trustworthiness
Credibility
Reflexivity
Relevance
What is trustworthiness in qualitative study appraisal the equivalent of, in quantitative study appraisal?
Validity
How would a qualitative study show that it is trustworthy, give an example?
It would justify and explain how it reached its conclusions
Researchers could invite other people to analyse and ask them if they think the results make sense
What is credibility in qualitative study appraisal the equivalent of, in quantitative study appraisal?
Reliability
How would a qualitative study show that it has credibility, give some examples?
It would demonstrate that the data is fairly representative of the participants
It could show that all the data was analysed, rather than cherry-picking
More than one coder could be used, so the research is not dominated by one person’s views
What is reflexivity?
The critical examination of the researcher’s own role in the research
How would a qualitative study show that it has reflexivity, give some examples?
Researchers would examine their own influence on:
the formation of qualitative research questions
data collection processes, including recruitment
their relationship with participants
What is relevance in qualitative research?
Whether the research illuminates an important issue/adds to knowledge/improves lives (or not)
How would a qualitative study show that it has relevance, give some examples?
It addresses an important issue in its social context
It gives a voice to ‘rarely heard’ groups
It helps understand patient values and experiences, especially when these differ from healthcare professionals’ values
It helps show that healthcare is embedded in everyday life
It helps influence practice, via guidelines
Outline a 5-step process for critically appraising qualitative research
Ensure a structure is used which acknowledges that qualitative research can be very diverse
Assess the quality and appropriateness of the design and methods
Assess the quality and rigour of the data collection and analysis
Assess the overarching markers of quality: Trustworthiness, Credibility, Reflexivity, Relevance
Ask whether the researchers can clearly describe and justify the story they are telling about the data, so much that it can be shared with others and still make sense
