1. Meeting
Monday April 11th 2016
12:00-1:30 pm

2. Agenda Welcome and Update
Linda Knox, Head, Department of Midwifery, BC Women’s Hospital & Health Centre, and Providence Health Care
Agenda Welcome and Update

3. Agenda

4. Using qualitative approaches to research midwifery questions
Michelle Butler, Professor, Director, UBC Midwifery
Using qualitative approaches to research midwifery questions

5. Qualitative research aims to capture:
The issue, concern, experience etc. from the inside-out (the emic perspective)
The unique (idiographic) meanings of each individual
The value-laden nature of facts
The interactive nature of inquiry
(Denzin and Lincoln 1994)

6. The interpretive paradigm …
The central research interest is human meaning in social life, its elucidation and exposition by the researcher (Erickson, 1986)
Aims to ‘give privilege to the perspectives of research participants’ (Fossey et al. 2002)
Emphasis on discovery & thick description
Accepts multiple realities
The researcher is the instrument

7. Methods Participant observation Interviews Narratives Documents
Focus groups

8. The ethnographic approach
An ethnography focuses on an entire cultural group
The researcher describes and interprets the ‘shared and learned patterns of values, behaviours, beliefs, and language of a culture-sharing group’
In order to do this, the ethnographer has to become part of the setting
Must become immersed in the day-to-day lives and learn the language in use
The ‘emic’ perspective
(Creswell 2007 p68)

9. Methods Participant-observer
Wide range of methods as required to understand the views of participants such as:
interviewing,
archive/documentary analysis,
analysis of non-written records,
quantitative data.

13. Phenomenology
Aims to illuminate human phenomena by objectively and critically analysing individuals’ accounts of their lived experiences of those phenomena.
Concerned to get beneath and beyond everyday and abstract accounts.
Raises profound questions and seeks a deeper understanding of phenomena through a careful analysis of their meanings for individuals who have experienced them.

16. Grounded Theory
A method of discovery - to discover new dimensions of the social processes ‘at play in people’s lives’
Purpose is to generate comprehensive explanations (theories) of phenomena that are grounded in reality (grounded theory)
An approach to study of social processes and social structures
Research conducted in naturalistic settings

17. Defining components of GT
Simultaneous data collection and analysis
Constructing analytic codes and categories from data
Constant comparison method of analysis
Advancing theory development during each step of data collection and analysis
Memo-writing to elaborate categories, specify their properties, define relationships and identify gaps
Sampling aimed at theory construction – not representativeness
Conducting the literature review after analysis
(Glaser and Strauss, 1967; Charmaz 2006)

22. Insight and discovery

25. Beck, C. T. (2006). The anniversary of birth trauma: failure to rescue
Beck, C. T. (2006). The anniversary of birth trauma: failure to rescue. Nursing Research, 55(6), 381–390.

26. (Thompson and Downe, 2010)

27. When to use qualitative research?
To explore a problem
To provide a complex detailed understanding of an issue
To empower individuals to share their stories, hear their voices, or minimise power relationships
To write in a literary, flexible style that conveys stories, or theatre, or poems, without the restrictions of formal academic structures
To understand the context or settings in which participants address an issue or a problem
To develop theories when partial or inadequate theories exist, or existing theories do not adequately address the complexity of a problem
To study problems that do not fit quantitative measures and statistical analyses (Creswell, 2007)

28. Theoretical and practical considerations
The credibility of findings amongst potential funders of the research and preferences for different approaches
Access to participants
The skills of the researcher and access to expertise
Time constraints, choices will have to be made about the amount of data and the complexity of the data to be collected, and the time required to develop and use particular techniques
Resources available

29. Further Reading
Lavender, T., Edwards, G., & Alfirevic, Z. (2004) Demystifying qualitative research in pregnancy and childbirth. (2004). Wiltshire: Quay Books, MA Healthcare Ltd
Baker, L. (2006). Ten common pitfalls to avoid when conducting qualitative research. British Journal of Midwifery, 14(9), 530–531.

30. References
Creswell (2007) Qualitative Inquiry & Research Design: Choosing among five approaches. Thousand Oaks: Sage
Denzin, N. and Lincoln, Y. (1994), Handbook of Qualitative Research, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Erickson, F. (1986). Qualitative methods in research on teaching. In M. C. Wittrock (Ed.), Handbook of research on teaching, 3rd edition: A project of The American Educational Research Association. New York: Macmillan.
Charmaz, K (2006) Constructing Grounded Theory: A Practical Guide through Qualitative Analysis. Los Angeles: Sage
Fossey E, Harvey C, McDermott F and Davidson L. (2002) Understanding and evaluating qualitative research. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 36:
Gaser, B and Strauss, A (1967) The discovery of grounded theory : strategies for qualitative research. New York: Aldine de Greuyter

31. Issues in the press

46. Linda Knox
Closing Comments