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Overview of Chapter 9:
Understanding Qualitative Research
Design The purpose of Chapter 9 is
to acquaint you with some features of research
design for qualitative and multimethod studies.
Research design elements for qualitative studies
often evolve in the field. Nevertheless, several
aspect associated with quantitative design are also
of relevance in qualitative design, such as
where the study should take, place, and
how often data should be collected. In
qualitative studies, however, descriptions of the
research design are often after-the-fact
characterizations of what emerged in response to
ongoing data collection and analysis, rather than
specifications of preplanned activities designed to
control the research situation. Chapter 9 also provides a
brief summary of the research traditions that have
guided qualitative inquiry--traditions that have
provided a foundation for numerous nursing studies.
Each research tradition focuses on certain types of
research question--and each has its own approach to
the collection and analysis of qualitative data.
Only three research traditions--ethnography,
grounded theory, and phenomenology--are elaborated
upon, because these are the three traditions that
have been most widely used by nurse
researchers. The search for truth and
meaning is at the heart of systematic inquiry, and
new approaches for discovering them are constantly
evolving. An emerging trend in nursing research, as
well as in other disciplines, is the use of
multimethod research in which qualitative and
quantitative data are integrated. The chapter
examines the many ways in which integration can
advance nursing science. The fundamental rationale
for blending different approaches is that
integration improves the validity and
interpretability of a study. The chapter describes
several specific strategies for productively
combining qualitative and quantitative analyses and
also reviews some of the barriers to integration.
Fortunately, some of these barriers are
disappearing. Study
Chapter 9 in the
text, pages 205-230. Use the forum
for Questions for Instructor on Part 3 in
WebCT for Nurs
400A
or Nurs
400B
to post questions about things you don't understand
in Chapter 9. |