Qualitative Design

Qualitative Design
The qualitative design of the study conducted by Van Oostveen, Mathijssen and Vermeulen (2015) entitled “Nurse Staffing Issues are Just the tip of the Iceberg: A Qualitative Study About Nurses’ Perceptions of Nurse Staffing” published in the International Journal of Nursing Studies is based on the descriptive phenomenological design in which data was obtained from four focus groups consisting of 44 nurses and 27 in-depth interviews of head nurses, nurse directors and advisors. As Van Oostveen et al. (2015) indicate, “the focus groups and interviews were audiotaped, transcribed and subjected to thematic analysis,” which is consistent with the phenomenological method (Lewis, 2015). The design aimed to obtain insight from nurses and nurse managers on how staff levels impact the nursing experience and nurses’ overall ability to provide quality care.
The strengths of this design are that deeper understanding of the factors at play in a particular phenomenon can be identified. The phenomenological method is not used to test variables or for assessing the merit of a hypothesis. Instead, this method is used to better understand a phenomenon. By understanding it through the experience and words of those actually involved in the phenomenon, researchers can piece together the themes that are revealed through careful analysis of the content or data that is obtained (Lin, 2013). This method is particularly useful in filtering out the noise that is often communicated in personal reflections, interviews and focus groups. The phenomenological method allows the researcher to block out the superfluous or extraneous material and get to the most meaningful information that often exists between the lines of what participants themselves communicate (Lin, 2013). By reading between the lines and distilling the essence of the experience, the researcher using the phenomenological approach can identify the factors and issues that are most meaningful or impactful on a particular problem or situation. That is the main strength of this particular design.
The limitations of this design are that (a) it does not provide a quantitative approach to understanding the issue, and (b) it relies on the researcher’s ability to intuit to a large degree the meaning that is being communicated. Even though thematic analysis can be conducted in an objective manner, there is still a high degree of subjective analysis that is required of the researcher, which means that the data could potentially be interpreted differently by another researcher. This is why in order for this type of study to have validity and reliability, the researcher has to provide a clear and precise explanation of how data was collected and analyzed.
The strengths are reflected in the design of this study in the fact that (a) it is using a valid method for understanding in a more in-depth manner the particular essence of the phenomenon of nursing burnout from the perspective of nurses who are impacted by staffing challenges and the manner in which patients are classified. By conducting focus groups and interviews, the researchers are able to better highlight the essential themes that emerge to better explain the phenomenon and reveal factors that are most impactful in the problem. The limitations are reflected in the design of this study in the fact that (b) it is only presenting a description of the essence of the phenomenon and not providing any empirically-verifiable statistical data sets. In quantitative research, data can be tested and hypotheses either affirmed or rejected. This study’s design does not allow such to happen but rather can be considered as a pre-hypothesis stage of inquiry.
References
Lewis, S. (2015). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five
approaches. Health Promotion Practice, 16(4), 473-475.
Lin, C. (2013). Revealing the “Essence” of Things: Using Phenomenology in LIS
Research. Qualitative and Quantitative Methods in Libraries (QQML), 4, 469-478.
Van Oostveen, C. J., Mathijssen, E., & Vermeulen, H. (2015). Nurse Staffing Issues are
Just the tip of the Iceberg: A Qualitative Study About Nurses’ Perceptions of Nurse Staffing. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 52(8), 1300-1309. http://daneshyari.com/article/preview/1076172.pdf