Longitudinal Qualitative Research Research Articles

Getting in, getting on, going further: Exploring the role of employers in the degree apprentice to graduate transition

AbstractTransitions from education into work, or as part of career change and development, are increasingly central to policy debate and academic inquiry. However, the role that employers play in shaping transition is often overlooked. In this paper, we examine this issue through the experiences of a graduating cohort of ‘degree apprentices’. We present original analysis of new empirical data from what we believe to be the first substantive qualitative longitudinal research conducted with those experiencing this new vocational pathway in the English Apprenticeships system. Through analysis of repeat semi‐structured interviews with 22 degree apprenticeship graduates (44 interviews in total), we provide early empirical insights into experiences of this new pathway and add to existing theoretical conceptualisations of transition within the educational literature and the employer's role within it. We show that the degree apprentice to graduate transition can be broken down into three key stages: ‘getting in’, ‘getting on’ and ‘going further’, and that employers—at both strategic and relational levels—shape experiences at each stage.

The Model of Health Promotion through Health Literacy Approach for the Elderly in Bangkok, Thailand

Elderly care focuses on slowing down deterioration and maintaining health later in life. This can be done through health promotion undertaken by systematic participation of the involvements aimed at helping the elderly attain health literacy, thereby enhancing their long-term self-reliance. The research was to 1) study the principle, objective, system, and mechanisms facilitating elderly club administration, 2) develop the models of health promotion through health literacy approach for the elderly, and 3) propose the policy suggestions for employing the developed model in the relevant areas. A mixed-method was used to study 634 Thai elderly. the 65 informants composed of the elderly committee and directors from six zones in Bangkok. The main results were the activities that contributed to the elderly’s health promotion in order of importance as “Walk, Eat, Sleep, Brain,” The process of the health literacy was sequenced by recognizing, trying to continually practice until good for health and tell good things to others. Factors facilitating the elderly club administration in four aspects composing of 1) committee, 2) budget, 3) materials, and 4) elderly members. The synthesized model was called Smart by LeIST @ BKK (Leadership: L, Information: I, Stakeholder: S, and Team: T). The major policy suggestions for employing the developed model in the relevant areas are the elderly clubs. Corresponded agencies should correctly analyze the elderly’s needs to cover “Walk, Eat, Sleep, Brain” and use them to organize activities or projects in the health literacy approach. The research suggests that the officers should apply this model by considering principles, objectives, systems, and mechanisms according to the context. The longitudinal study and qualitative research should be further examined to employ and adjust this model deeply.

Where Is Time in Longitudinal Qualitative Research?

Time plays an integral part in the day-to-day running of organizations, and recently there were several calls for more theorizing based on qualitative longitudinal research. Despite these calls, what constitutes ‘longitudinal’ qualitative research can be interpreted in different ways, e.g. from a process perspective or a variance perspective. As such, while the academic community is under pressure to produce longitudinal research, the plurality of approaches often leaves us at a loss as to what to report and how to report it. Rather than curtailing this plurality by providing guidelines or templates, we focus on how time itself is used by analyzing all qualitative longitudinal papers published in Academy of Management Journal, Administrative Science Quarterly, Organization Science, and Journal of Business Ethics between 2016 and 2020. To provide analytical clarity we distinguish between two uses of time, either in the research design and/or the research process. This distinction allows us to reveal a taxonomy of existing practices including three levels of engagement with time, with only a minority of the papers effectively using time for theory-building, and some resorting to what we call longitudinal-washing. To rectify this, we use insights from the best practices in our sample to enhance the theoretical heft and mutual intelligibility of longitudinal research by reporting transparently on the usage of time.

Tendency of older adults to leave big cities in the COVID‐19 pandemic: A qualitative regional analysis in Turkey

This study investigates how territorial and age group disparities in implementing COVID‐19 measures in Turkey triggered some of the older adults living in those regions to move to rural settlements and small towns. The direction of this mobility was from urbanized regions to rural regions. Data is collected from 201 older adult participants nationwide through longitudinal qualitative research. A combination of purposive and snowball sampling techniques was used to form the sampling of the research. Chi‐squared test was applied to the collected data and significant correlation values are found between the age groups and the main motives for them leaving the big cities. Findings show that this mobility caused unexpected problems for older adults and contributed to the spread of the virus, but represents a counter‐urbanization tendency in Turkey.

Site-Specific Author's Drama

The article discusses the role of the playwright in contemporary site-specific drama and the role of the director of site-specific performance. The study aims at three main areas: the author’s drama based on the recent history of the 20th century; the performative potential of the commonness and of oral history; and contemporary site-specific drama. As a playwright, the author focuses on the memories of witnesses and socially taboo topics. As a theatre director, she examines approaches for transforming into theatrical language the memory of place, the collection of data from oral history and burning issues. She looks at the relations between playwrights and site-specific performance. She observes the links among the topic, communication means and non-theatrical places. This qualitative longitudinal art research is based on experience from theatre practice, analysis and comparison of theoretical knowledge. The author gives examples of authorial plays and reports on their productions, specifically stating these dramas: Midnight in the Borderland (3. /4. 5. 1950, a monastery), Three Chairs (Alzheimer’s disease, a retirement home), From Majdalenka to Madla (World War II, cellar), Hotel on the Corner (1932–1989, old theatre building). The study emphasizes the need for a creative and attentive approach by the author, playwright, dramaturg and director to create a whole new world from the duality: ordinary and taboo. It turns out that the combination of a strong theme, an unusual place tied to the topic of the drama, and the participatory role (active/passive) of the audience can be an effective strategy and even “tactic” in strengthening the role of the author in drama after the year 2000.

Understanding Health Care Graduates' Conceptualizations of Transitions: A Longitudinal Qualitative Research Study.

Although transitions have been defined in various ways in the higher education literature (e.g., inculcation, development, becoming), little research exists exploring health care learners' conceptualizations of transitions across their transition from final year to new graduate. How they understand transitions is important because such conceptualizations will shape how they navigate their transitions and vice versa. The authors conducted a 3-month longitudinal qualitative research study with 35 health care learners from 4 disciplines (medicine, dietetics, nursing, and pharmacy) across their final year to new graduate transition to explore how they conceptualized transitions. Data collection occurred between July 2019 and April 2020 at Monash University in Victoria, Australia. The authors employed framework analysis to interrogate the interview and longitudinal audio diary data cross-sectionally and longitudinally. The authors found 10 different conceptualizations of transitions broadly categorized as time bound and linear (one-off events, systems, linear, adaptation, linked to identities), ongoing and complex (ongoing processes, multifaceted, complex), or related to transition shock (labor, linked to emotions). The adaptation conceptualization increased in dominance over time, the linear conceptualization was more apparent in the interviews (time points 1 and 3), and the multifaceted and emotion-linked conceptualizations were more dominant in the longitudinal audio diaries (time point 2). This novel study illustrates conceptualizations of transitions as broadly consistent with existing higher education literature but extends this research considerably by identifying differences in conceptualizations across time. The authors encourage health care learners, educators, and policy makers to develop expanded and more sophisticated understandings of transitions to ensure that health care learners can better navigate often challenging graduate transitions. Further research should explore stakeholders' transition conceptualizations over lengthier durations beyond the new graduate transition.

Evaluation of an occupational competency-based curriculum and its impacts on learning outcomes

This study explores the expectations of enterprise recruiters regarding job seekers in terms of required competencies and how higher education should contribute to preparing students for future employment. This study employs an occupational competency-based pedagogical model. Based on in-depth interviews with ten senior workers in the aviation and education industries, a four-year longitudinal qualitative research was conducted. After the conclusion of the training program, data on the employment status of research participants were collected. Further, a holistic interpretation and validation was provided for the competency-based pedagogical model. The results demonstrate that students developed stronger learning motivation and better employability because of a competency-based curriculum and training.

Mentoring experienced teachers to change their practice: A sociocultural perspective for professional learning and development

This longitudinal qualitative research is framed within a sociocultural perspective and examines experienced teachers and their mentor as they changed their practice. The data, sourced from three teacher focus groups, email correspondence and the mentor's reflections are analysed using Rogoff's personal, interpersonal and institutional/community planes. This small-scale study gives insights into the complex nature of professional learning, particularly when teachers are challenging the status quo which creates tensions that need to be addressed. Teachers had real concerns about time to teach the curriculum and complete the research activities. They worried about ‘fitting in’ with colleagues and parent perceptions. A collaborative self-development framework is advocated as a culturally appropriate way of for teachers to continue to learn during their careers, encourage risk taking and innovation. • Research initiated and conducted by classroom teachers • Mentoring to promote collaborative self-development • Rogoff's analytical framework applied to research • Longitudinal research to analyse change in teachers' practice • Addressing professional learning for experienced teachers

Series: Practical guidance to qualitative research. Part 6: Longitudinal qualitative and mixed-methods approaches for longitudinal and complex health themes in primary care research

This article, the sixth in a series aiming to provide practical guidance for qualitative research in primary care, introduces two approaches for addressing longitudinal and complex health themes in primary care research. The first approach – longitudinal qualitative research – supports the study of change during the life course. The second approach – mixed-methods research – integrates quantitative and qualitative research to gain new insights to address the complex and multifaceted themes in primary care. We discuss the context, what, why, when and how of these approaches and their main practical and methodological challenges. We provide examples of empirical studies using these approaches and sources for further reading.

English ‘iron rod’ welfare versus Italian ‘colander’ welfare: understanding the intra-European mobility strategies of unaccompanied young migrants and refugees

The experiences of unaccompanied young migrants and refugees challenge the idea of a common European asylum policy but also show that traditional welfare typologies used to account for differences in welfare across states fail to account for the lived experiences of this group. They do not consider the shifting categorizations of young migrants in institutional terms, nor how the stratification of their social rights plays out over place and time. Moreover, current welfare typologies give inadequate attention to the increasing intersection of the labour market and opportunities for regularization, the relative importance and role of the state in the welfare mix, and the nexus of access to welfare and immigration enforcement. This article draws on qualitative longitudinal research in England and Italy to argue that rather than experiencing welfare through the lens of Liberal (England) versus Conservative or Mediterranean (Italy) regimes, unaccompanied young migrants and refugees in these countries are better understood as navigating different systems of ‘iron rod welfare’ and ‘colander welfare’. In England, the nexus between welfare and legal status is policed by an iron rod on one side of which exists a plethora of social rights, but on the other the risk of a proactive detention and deportation regime. In Italy, meanwhile, the holes of the colander denote gaps in protection but also possibilities to navigate alternative welfare strategies independently of the state. The ability to act independently of the state is an important but under-theorized capability for this population, for whom the state is a more ambiguous actor than is traditionally considered in European social policy.

Inclusive kindergarten education

The early education of children with special educational needs in kindergarten with their typically developed peers is a great opportunity for the next generation to have experiential knowledge that diversity is a natural, everyday thing at the level of abilities as well. In our longitudinal qualitative research, we describe the integrational process of a kindergarten in Budapest, as we followed the institutional transformation almost from the beginning of the integration. Research methods: recording of semi-structured interviews and then qualitative text analysis using Atlas.ti software; and metaphor method with the target concept of kindergarten and integrated child. The results show that the actors in the process have mobilized their internal reserves to address inclusive education, both at the individual and institutional levels. The initiator and primary force behind the process was the director committed to integrated education, who steered the process along the way. During the process, the interviewees' awareness and critique of the task increased, and the relationship with special education teachers and parents became more important.

Re‐Framing Reality: Framework Analysis as a Step‐Wise Approach to Thematic Analysis

Similar to quantitative methods, there are many methods researchers can use for analysing qualitative research. This talk will introduce Framework Analysis, a systematic qualitative method often used in healthcare education research. Framework Analysis can be used in both cross‐sectional, and longitudinal qualitative research, and consists of the following five steps: Data familiarization; thematic framework identification; indexing; charting; mapping and interpretation. Participants in this session will be introduced to qualitative language (and related meanings), as well as opportunities to practice the practical processing of each step. Each participant will be supported to engage in the Framework analysis steps by working through relatable examples alongside their audience peers. This session will be highly interactive. By the end of this session, participants will be more familiar with Framework analysis language and process, and are likely to have met a new colleague through this activity.

Contesting the politics of neoliberal resilience: regional labour market resilience from a workers’ perspective

ABSTRACT The concept of resilience has been captured by a neoliberal discourse displacing responsibility to individuals and regions. This article specifically examines the regional labour market resilience of workers and other regional stakeholders relating to an ongoing economic restructuring process of deindustrialization and redundancies in Anglesey, North West Wales, in the UK. Using 11 years of longitudinal qualitative research, we provide an empirical narrative that applies a labour market resilience framework (challenge, context, responses and outcomes) from a workers’ perspective. It connects the empirical findings from this critical case study to broader generalizability for regional studies and regional policy implications. Regarding generalizability to regional studies theory, the labour market resilience of workers is impacted at different but interlinking levels: the global systemic level of neo-liberal capitalism; the national country level of institutional varieties of capitalism (liberal market economies versus coordinated market economies); and regional variations across countries.

Moving our care home: A qualitative study of the views and experiences of residents, relatives and staff.

Involuntary relocation when care homes close can be detrimental to residents' health and well-being and is associated with increased mortality. There is little formal evidence to support whether planning can mitigate the impact of such moves. This study aimed to understand the experiences of a whole care home relocation where staff and residents relocated together using existing published guidance. A longitudinal qualitative research study using individual face-to-face semi-structured interviews was conducted between August 2018 and August 2019. Baseline interviews were conducted 6-8weeks after relocation with follow-up interviews 10-12months later. Interviews were recorded, transcribed and analysed using framework analysis. 27 interviews were conducted; 19 baseline interviews (4 residents, 7 family members, 8staff) and 8 follow-up interviews (2 residents, 2 family members, 4staff). Participants' feelings about the relocation were mixed: some reported apprehension before the move but others excitement. Residents and families felt variably involved in planning the move, whereas staff expressed lack of involvement. Time, family support and continuity of care helped participants settle in. The new environment shaped participants' experiences and abilities to adjust, especially the lack of a homely feeling with the new home, the larger size and changes in staff organisation and management. Despite implementation of existing guidance, relocation was still challenging for residents, staff and family members. Future relocations should increase involvement of staff in the planning and design of the home; offer continuous support to those involved; and ensure continuity of care and management style.

Utilizing a Matrix Approach to Analyze Qualitative Longitudinal Research: A Case Example During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Qualitative Longitudinal Research (QLR) is an evolving methodology used in understanding the rich and in-depth experiences of individuals over time. QLR is particularly conducive to pandemic or disaster-related studies, where unique and rapidly changing environments warrant fuller descriptions of the human condition. Despite QLR’s usefulness, there are a limited number of articles that detail the methodology and analysis, especially in the social sciences, and specifically social work literature. As researchers adjust their focus to incorporate the impact of the COVID-19 global pandemic, there is a growing need in understanding the progression and adaptation of the pandemic on individuals’ lives. This article provides a process and strategy for implementing QLR and analyzing data in online diary entries. In the provided case example, we explore a phenomenological QLR conducted with graduate level students during the COVID-19 pandemic (Saltzman et al., 2021), and outline a matrix framework for QLR analysis. This paper provides an innovative way in which to engage in qualitative data collection and analysis for social science research.

Retracing participants in longitudinal studies: Trekking the timescape of fieldwork

ABSTRACT Retaining participants in longitudinal studies is important but challenging when retracing them after a substantial gap between study phases. Utilising our nine year mixed-methods longitudinal study of 54 families affected by paternal imprisonment, we qualitatively analysed our processes and experiences of retracing participants after a seven year gap in contact. Paying attention to the spatio-temporal features that are traditionally an analytical focus of qualitative longitudinal research helped to enhance our retention rates, and our fieldwork strategies can be more deeply understood as part of the ‘timescape’ of qualitative longitudinal research. In this paper, we describe the spatio-temporal contours that shaped our efforts, successes and failures, and distil the material practices that they led to during our ‘tracking treks’ through the timescape of longitudinal fieldwork.

Social Work Responses to Domestic Violence During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Experiences and Perspectives of Professionals at Women’s Shelters in Sweden

This study explores how social work professionals at women’s shelters in Sweden experience, understand, and are responding to domestic violence under the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. A qualitative longitudinal research design was employed, and multiple semi-structured interviews were conducted with 14 professionals at women’s shelters over a period of one year. The results are presented in three overall themes; (a) professional challenges due to increased needs, (b) professionals’ adjustments to new circumstances, and (c) professionals’ attributions regarding client barriers to help seeking. The results show diverse and changing experiences among the professionals as the pandemic progressed. Clients and professionals have shared the same collective trauma associated with the pandemic, which has affected the professionals’ understanding of and response to domestic violence. The professionals understand both clients and themselves as being more vulnerable and susceptible to risk under these new circumstances. Social work adjustments focused on maintaining contact, reducing risk and prioritizing safety, which had both positive and negative consequences for both clients and professionals. The study concludes that the professionals coped with the uncertainty they experienced during the pandemic by relying on both their previous knowledge and work experience of domestic violence and their experience of sharing trauma with clients.

The evaluation of the relevance of teaching of homeopathy at the medical school

Background: In 1912 the Hahnemann Medical Faculty to graduate homeopathic physicians was created. This was one of the courses that originated the present Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro – UNIRIO. Homeopathy in UNIRIO was consolidated during the 80s and 90s through the relationship with other specialties. In 1999, the interface of Homeopathy and the curriculum guidelines of the Brazilian Ministry of Education justified the inclusion of Homeopathy as a compulsory subject in the medical course at UNIRIO. In 2001 a University program to improve the development of research called “Homeopathy - Health and Quality of Life”, was created to integrate the activities of Teaching, Research and Extension.
 
 Aim: To evaluate the relevance of the compulsory teaching of Homeopathy in the medical area at the Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro – UNIRIO, Brazil.
 
 Methods: A prospective longitudinal qualitative and quantitative research was used with semi-structured questionnaires with open and closed questions at the beginning and end of each semester. Undergraduate students from the third year of the UNIRIO Medical Faculty (2008/March till 2009/September) who accepted the “Consent Form”, were included. Students who didn't respond adequately to the questions were excluded. This research was approved and registered at the Brazilian Research Ethics Center. Microsoft Office Excel 2007 used to data collection and analysis.
 
 Results: Total number of students attending the course during the four semesters: 304. 70% answered the questionnaires. 60% of the students had heard of homeopathy before attending the homeopathy course (67% as patients, 21% as patients and through media, 6% through media and 6% by other means of contact). 86% consider that homeopathy brought new knowledge to the medical and academic training. 72% consider that this knowledge could be applicable to their future career.
 
 Conclusion: Most students aim to learn the guiding principles of homeopathy. Their aim is to know all available treatment, modalities and alternatives to allopathy in medical education. They considered that the learning of Homeopathy is a part of general medical training due to the fact that it has been a recognized medical specialty in Brazil since 1980. The student’s opportunity to learn homeopathy during the undergraduate course in medical schools widens the individuality concept, “the doctor-patient relationship and the holistic vision of the patient”. These results demonstrate the relevance of teaching homeopathy in the medical curriculum and the need to spread the teaching of homeopathy as a compulsory course for all other medical universities.

The effects of Expressing Writing on Palliative Care healthcare professionals: a qualitative study.

Expressive Writing (EW) is a useful tool for taking care of the person globally, and literature shows that self-care and self-awareness improve the coping skills of health professionals, positively increasing personal and professional satisfaction and reducing the negative aspects related to the profession, such as burnout. The objective of the research is to analyze the writings produced by healthcare professionals belonging to palliative care in a previous quantitative study to identify any changes between two sessions. It is a longitudinal qualitative research with an interpretative phenomenological methodology of analysis of documents written by professionals. The study included 50 expressive writings: 25 at Time 0 (T0) and 25 at Time 1 (T1). The analysis sample is composed of 25 professionals. All participants completed an Expressive Writing protocol homogeneous in procedure, mandate, and timing. The study revealed a variation in contents from T0 to T1 highlighting both professional and intimate growth of the professionals. The practitioner appears more aware of working together to achieve a goal. Writing evolve as more spontaneous. Attention is focused on the relationship with the patient as an engine of personal and professional growth. The satisfaction is linked to the management of a complex case in its entirety. The investigated instrument resulted in a beneficial change in the healthcare professionals involved. Writing helps to find strategies to take care of the other, improves communication, favors the sharing of experience with the other, increasing the awareness of limitations and strengths.

Developing disaster resilience: A processual and reflective approach

This study takes a processual view of resilience to investigate how tourism organisations utilise dynamic capabilities to develop resilience in a disaster context. A longitudinal qualitative research design was used to gain insights into the process. The study uses on-site observation, secondary documents, and in-depth interviews with representatives from 25 tourism organisations and industry stakeholders across two years to provide a longitudinal understanding of disaster resilience. A dynamic resilience framework is developed based on three dynamic capability steps (sensing, seizing, transforming) and helps to explain how tourism organisations develop resilience elements at each disaster management stage. Two notable contributions include (i) a new resilience element added to the existing list of resilience development, which illustrates disruptive changes of tourism facilitated by transforming dynamic capabilities, and (ii) a trial-and-error process used by tourism organisations to improve decision-making for future disaster events. These help to explain the cyclical nature of resilience building.