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There is integration between researcher and
researcher and participant participant – interaction is valued
Sample Usually small in number but consists of those who are
able and willing to describe the experience
Data Elicits ‘soft data’, i.e. words
Data collection The major data collection techniques include
interviewing, participant observation, examination of
personal documents and other printed materials
Procedures and tools for data gathering are subject to
ongoing revision in the field situation
Analysis Analysis is presented for the most part in a narrative
rather than numerical form, but the inclusion of some
quantitative measures and numerical expressions is
not precluded in qualitative research
Rigour Credibility, transferability (fittingness), dependability,
confirmability, goodness
Participants should always have the right to give informed
consent regarding their participation in any research study.
In order to do this, participants should be fully aware of
the purpose of the study, what sort of information is being
sought, how it will be used and the implications for them as
contributors to the research. This moral principle is known
as autonomy (Beauchamp and Childress, 2001); it also
implies that participants have the right to withdraw from the
research at any time.
In qualitative interviews the role of the interviewer is
to encourage participants to ‘open up’ and discuss their
experiences of the phenomenon. In doing this, participants
can inadvertently discuss personal information that they
had not planned to reveal, or that may rekindle tragic
or uncomfortable experiences related to the topic being
studied. Process consent involves continually negotiating
with participants to ascertain whether they are comfortable
continuing with the interview or would prefer to discontinue
participation (Polit and Beck, 2006) and can be a useful tool
in these situations. However, discontinuing participation
alone can be insufficient to meet the principle of nonmaleficence,
so psychological support should be in place
to manage any emotional distress that may result from the
interview (Smith, 1992).
In qualitative research, if vulnerable groups are being
asked to contribute to the study, it is important to
ensure that their rights are protected. Ethical committee
or institutional review board approval has to be sought
before the research can be undertaken. The role of ethical
committees and institutional review boards is to determine
RESEARCH METHODOLOGIES
British Journal of Nursing, 2007, Vol 16, No 12 741
Sampling
In qualitative research, participants are usually recruited to
a study because of their exposure to or their experience
of the phenomenon in question. This type of sample tends
to ensure richness in the data gathered and is known as
purposive or purposeful sampling (Fossey et al, 2002).
Samples can also be selected as a result of themes that
emerge from the data analysis. The researcher can then
explore these themes in more depth and/or develop a
theory from these data. This type of sampling is known as
theoretical sampling (Fossey et al, 2002) and is frequently
used in grounded theory.
Qualitative samples are often small (Fossey et al, 2002)
but this is not usually a problem as the researcher is not
attempting to generalize the findings. Data