Power Of Qualitative Research Research Articles

The Power of Qualitative Research: Cultivating Autoethnography for Personal Awakening, Humanity, and Transformation

This article is an autoethnography of how engaging with my previous autoethnographic article facilitated my recovery and self-growth. I wrote my previous piece (Nguyen-Trung, 2022) while stranded in Australia due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which prevented me from visiting my grandfather one last time before his passing in 2021. If my past autoethnography focused on the themes of death, grief, and loss, the current article’s autoethnography revolves around awakening, healing, and self-transformation. In this current article, I reflexively look back on my autoethnographic journey and reflect on how it impacted me as a grandchild and a human being on the one hand, and a qualitative sociologist and a writer on the other. I tell stories of how, since writing my first autoethnography and sharing it with others, whether at an academic conference, a meeting, a social encounter, or via a social media post, I managed to overcome the darkest time of my life and gradually heal my personal crisis and somehow transform myself. There were three key lessons learned from such a journey: the emergence of self-awareness, the significance of empathy and humanity within research communities, and the therapeutic and transformative potential of writing.

Living, Caring, Learning – The power of qualitative research in bleeding disorders care: One voice, from soloist to choir

Abstract With over three decades of nursing experience, Simon reflects on his experience as a research nurse at the Oxford Haemophilia and Thrombosis Centre at a time of huge change for haemophilia care and treatment. He recalls the impact of conversations with people with haemophilia about gene therapy, how these challenged his assumptions about living with haemophilia, and how this prompted him to pursue a PhD. Highlighting the importance of listening to individual patient stories, Simon discusses how qualitative research contributes to a deeper understanding of what it is to live with a bleeding disorder. He considers the role of nurses in research and the importance of collaboration between research and clinical nursing teams as new treatments for haemophilia and other bleeding disorders emerge.

A novice's guide to qualitative health professions education research.

Qualitative research has long been considered the poor cousin to quantitative research. However, recently it has gained more prominence and respect, particularly within health professions education. This article aims to introduce the novice researcher to the fundamental principles of qualitative research. The objectives were (i) to understand the features of, and rationale for conducting, qualitative research, and (ii) to differentiate between the most common forms of qualitative research. In this review, we introduce the basic features of qualitative research, and describe the rationale for conducting such research. We guide researchers on how to differentiate between the most common forms of qualitative research and to take the time to acquaint themselves with research paradigms, the philosophical positions that guide how research is conducted and interpreted, before selecting the best methodology and methods. Qualitative research is rigorous, and offers deeper understanding of human experiences, context and social phenomena. We demonstrate the key considerations when selecting an appropriate methodology, ensuring that the research aim aligns with the purpose of any given methodology. The power of qualitative research should not be underestimated, but power only comes from well conducted, rigorous research. Qualitative research is not quick or easy but it has much to offer.

A qualitative method to “make visible” the world of intercultural relationships: the photovoice in social psychology

ABSTRACTIn recent decades, the study of intercultural relations and the complexity of relationships due to the migration phenomenon have become more important for social scientists to analyze. The aim of this article is to show that photovoice, a methodology that belongs to the field of participatory action research, can be a useful qualitative tool in social psychology to analyze intercultural relationships. This method offers participants the opportunity to discuss and interpret their photographs in a group, involving people in a process of active listening and dialogue that can encourage policy makers to promote social change. Social psychology is encouraged to use photovoice to engage communities facing intercultural challenges; thus, a re-appraisal of the Lewin tradition is necessary. Photovoice could be used to “make visible” and meaningful the world of intercultural relationships, eliciting the transformative power of qualitative research.

Schools as Learning Communities

Schools succeeding against the odds can make a difference. However, this complex challenge has barely been achieved individually. Knowing that it takes a village to raise a child, schools as learning communities join everybody to develop a common understanding of the school ethos that promotes quality education for all. This article focuses on how this process turned despair into hope in an elementary school in one of the most marginalized areas in Spain. Building upon critical pedagogy and dialogic learning, I analyzed some turning points of this transformation. Particularly, the power of qualitative research under the communicative methodology approach seems to be crucial for (a) opening the classrooms and school to the community and (b) including people's voices into the research. Eight years later, evidence shows profound changes in people's lives. This case exemplifies the Freirean concept of the “untested feasibility,” which enables us to generate real transformations.

The power of qualitative research.

As pediatricians we pride ourselves on having great patient relationships by getting on our patient’s level. We are the physicians who perform magic tricks, look for animals and cartoon characters in our patients’ ears, and crouch down on the floor to meet our patients where they are. Not only do we meet patients where they are, but we often celebrate it, decorating our offices with patients’ crayon drawings and other artwork. As a new developmental pediatrics fellow, I wanted to understand the perspective of parents who didn’t always bring their children in for their appointments or who failed to schedule them at all. I thought that the only way to help people get “better” care was to ask them what they thought the problems were with the care they were currently receiving. I was surprised as I was trying to start this project that the same people who would be perfectly willing to sit on the floor to look for Big Bird … Address correspondence to Elizabeth A. Diekroger, MD, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Developmental Behavioral Pediatrics, Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital, WO Walker Building, 10524 Euclid Ave, Suite 3150, Cleveland, OH 44106. E-mail: elizabeth.diekroger{at}uhhospitals.org

The power of qualitative research in the era of social media

PurposeThe electronic social media such as Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, etc. have become a major form of communication, and the expression of attitudes and opinions, for the general public. Recently, they have also become a source of data for market researchers. This paper aims to provide a critical look at the advantages and limitations of such an approach to understanding brand perceptions and attitudes in the market place. Although the social media provide a wealth of data for automated content analyses, this review questions the validity and reliability of this research approach, and concludes that social media monitoring (SMM) is a poor substitute for in‐depth qualitative research which has many advantages and benefits.Design/methodology/approachThe paper presents a detailed, systematic comparison of various research approaches. These include well‐established methods and recent inventions which are in use to explore and understand consumer behaviour and attitudes. Particular attention is given to the analysis of spontaneous consumer attitudes as expressed through the social media and also in qualitative research interviews.FindingsThis analysis concludes that there are three critical features which differentiate qualitative research (as practised in IDIs and group discussions) from SMM. These are: the direct, interactive dialogue or conversation between consumers and researchers; the facility to “listen” and attend to the (sometimes unspoken) underlying narrative which connects consumers' needs and aspirations, personal goals and driving forces to behaviour and brand choice; and the dynamic, interactive characteristics of the interview that achieve a meeting of minds to produce a shared understanding. Philosophically, it is this “conversation” that gives qualitative research its validity and authenticity which makes it superior to SMM.Originality/valueThis review questions the validity and reliability of the SMM, and concludes that it is a poor substitute for in‐depth qualitative research which has many advantages and benefits.

Viewing the Rich, Diverse Landscape of Qualitative Research

The power of qualitative research is gripping. It provides nurses with a privileged glimpse in the world of their patients, frightening and horrifying as it is at times. Qualitative research allows nurses and other health care providers an opportunity to walk a mile in the shoes of their patients so they can better design interventions to help improve the quality of their patients’ lives. Qualitative research helps make the invisible visible. For example, in the author’s qualitative study of mothers’ anniversaries of their traumatic childbirth experiences an invisible phenomenon was discovered. The celebration each year of the child’s birthday was in fact, for these women who suffered birth trauma, a tormented day where family, friends, and clinicians failed to rescue them. As one mother painfully shared, ‘‘Every birthday is no longer the celebration of the child, but is really an anniversary for the rape.’’ In Beck’s qualitative studies on birth trauma and its resulting posttraumatic stress disorder because of childbirth, the most frequent image women used to describe their traumatic births was that it was like being raped on the delivery table, with everyone watching and no one offering to help. In this article, six of the most common qualitative research designs are discussed: phenomenology, grounded theory, ethnography, historical research, narrative analysis, and meta-synthesis. Some of these research designs are illustrated by concrete examples from the author’s research program on postpartum mood and anxiety disorders, and others are examples from published studies in perioperative nursing. The article ends with a discussion of criteria to assess the rigor of qualitative research. Qualitative research stems from the naturalistic paradigm. This paradigm provides the blueprint for different methods for conducting nursing research that are dramatically in contrast to those of the positivistic paradigm, which guides quantitative research. For the discipline of nursing, which deals with human complexity, both traditional quantitative research methods and the exciting qualitative research methods are needed for the discovery of knowledge to improve nursing care and the quality of life of our patients.

Completing a Qualitative Project: Details and Dialogue

Recognizing the Power of Qualitative Research - Janice M Morse DIALOGUE On Terminating a Project Writing It Up - Joyceen S Boyle Dissecting the Dissertation DIALOGUE What Do I Publish? The Politics of Publishing - Juliene G Lipson Protecting Participants' Confidentiality DIALOGUE Coauthorship Presenting Qualitative Research Up Close - Holly Skodol Wilson and Sally Ambler Hutchinson Visual Literacy in Poster Presentations DIALOGUE Other Ways to Do Things Meaning through Form - Judy R Norris Alternative Modes of Knowledge Representation DIALOGUE On 'Helping' or Working with Students The Art (and Science) of Critiquing Qualitative Research - Sally Thorne ADVICE Publish or Perish Strategies for Overcoming the Rage of Rejection - Phyllis Noerager Stern The Case of the Qualitative Researcher DIALOGUE The Downside of Blind Review Responding to Criticism - Judith E Hupcey DIALOGUE The Application of Theory Considering Theory Derived from Qualitative Research - Janice M Morse DIALOGUE Generalizability Generalizability in Qualitative Research - Joy L Johnson Excavating the Discourse DIALOGUE On Labeling a Research Program Programmatic Qualitative Research - Margarete J Sandelowski Or, Appreciating the Importance of Gas Station Pumps DIALOGUE Research Programs Linking Qualitative and Quantitative Research - Joan Bottorff New Avenues for Programmatic Research DIALOGUE On Intervention Clinical Utilization/Application of Qualitative Research - Janice Swanson, Roberta Durham and Judith Albright DIALOGUE On PAR Participatory Action Research - Judith Wuest and Marilyn Merritt-Gray Practical Dilemmas and Emancipatory Possibilities BRAINSTORMING Sorting out Meta-Analysis Qualitative Meta-Analysis - Rita Schreiber, Dauna Crooks and Phyllis Noerager Stern THE DEAD DOG SECTION Explaining Methods The Politicking of Research Results - Katharyn A May DIALOGUE As Hired Guns Qualitative Research in Policy Development - Martha Ann Carey THE DEAD DOG SECTION What to Do When Stumped by the Media Policy as Forethought in Qualitative Research - Marjorie A Muecke A Paradigm From Developing Country Social Scientists