Chapter 14
Qualitative Designs and Approaches
Statement of Intent
The purpose of Chapter 14 is to acquaint students with some features of research design for
qualitative studies. Unlike designs for quantitative studies, design elements for qualitative studies
usually evolve in the field—although a lot of upfront planning for fieldwork is essential. Despite
sharp differences between qualitative and quantitative design, students should also realize that
several features associated with quantitative design are also of relevance in qualitative design.
These include decisions about where the study should take place, how often data should be
collected, and whether explicit comparisons are to be made. 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 and to maximize power.
Chapter 14 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. Three research traditions—
ethnography, grounded theory, and phenomenology—are elaborated upon, because these three
traditions have been frequently used by nurse researchers. We also briefly describe additional
types of studies not necessarily allied with a particular discipline—case studies, narrative
analyses, and descriptive qualitative studies.
Descriptive qualitative studies are actually the single most common type of
qualitative study done by nurse researchers, and so we offer additional information about
them on the Chapter Supplement on thePoint website.
Chapter 14 also discusses qualitative research conducted within an ideological
framework: critical theory, feminist research, and participatory action research. There was a time
when such studies were so rare that we gave them only brief mention in a footnote, but that is no
longer the case. Researchers in countries other than the United States are especially likely to
undertake studies designed to be transformative and to raise consciousness about social issues
and power hierarchies.
Special Class Projects
1.
Suppose the class wanted to study depression among parents of children with cancer. Have
one team of students design a qualitative study and another design a quantitative study, and
pose relevant questions that could be answered in each. Then have the teams debate the
merits and shortcomings of each design, and the potential value of what would be learned.
2. Regarding a study of depression among parents of children with cancer, have the students
compare the kind of results they would expect to obtain if they designed a grounded theory
study versus a phenomenological study.
3. There are some interesting video lectures or discussions about qualitative designs available
on the Internet for you to consider sharing with your class. Some are by nurse researchers,
and some are by scholars in other disciplines. Here are links for two possibilities:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CVNOFPxfBY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NRcAGqNVAo&feature=related
4. HDYF If you did the “How Do You Feel” icebreaker with your class (Chapter 1), there are
opportunities to use this activity for discussions about qualitative research designs and
approaches. Here are some possibilities:

Have students discuss what type of study this would have been if the only question
was Question 1. How could such a study be expanded or embellished?

Have the students describe whether or not the general theme of the study (students’
feelings about research) could be addressed in a phenomenological inquiry. Discuss
which phenomenological approach would be appropriate, and how the study might be
conducted.

Have the students describe whether or not the general theme of the study (students’
feelings about research) could be addressed in a grounded theory study. Discuss how
such a study might be conducted.
5. GCE If you did the “Great Cookie Experiment” icebreaker with your class (Chapter 3), there
are opportunities to use this activity for discussions about qualitative research designs and
approaches. Here are some possibilities:

Questions 2 and 4 ask for narrative descriptions about the experience of eating the
cookie. If these had been the only questions on the questionnaire, what type of study
would this have been? How could such a study be expanded or embellished?

Question 10 asks students to rate the importance of eating healthy food on a scale
from 0 to 100. Suppose that the topic of healthy eating was the focus of a qualitative
study. Have the students describe whether or not this topic could be addressed in a
phenomenological study. Discuss which phenomenological approach would be
appropriate, and how the study might be conducted.

Have the students describe whether or not the topic of healthy eating could be
addressed in a grounded theory study. Discuss how such a study might be conducted.

Have the students describe whether or not the topic of healthy eating could be
addressed in an ethnographic study focused on a college dining hall culture. Discuss
how such a study might be conducted.
6. Use the “Self-Test” PowerPoint slides for Chapter 14 as a class activity, to give students an
opportunity to apply what they have learned about qualitative research designs and
approaches. These slides are not intended to be used to evaluate student performance, but
rather to highlight concepts, to give students some positive reinforcement and
encouragement, and to provide an opportunity for discussion if there is any confusion.
TEST QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS FOR EVALUATING STUDENT LEARNING
True/False Questions
1. Design decisions evolve while the study is in progress in both qualitative and quantitative
studies. (False)
2. Unlike quantitative researchers, qualitative researchers never explore causal connections.
(False)
3. Qualitative researchers reject the concept of constancy of conditions as appropriate to their
inquiries. (True)
4. Qualitative researchers typically do not use masking or blinding in their inquiries. (True)
5. Qualitative researchers collect probing, in-depth data from study participants at a single point
in time. (False)
6. A nurse researcher who conducted an ethnographic study of nurse–physician patterns of
communication and interaction in his or her own hospital would be conducting an
autoethnography. (True)
7. The etic perspective is the “insider’s view”—the way the members of a culture see the world.
(False)
8. Phenomenologists focus on the manner by which people make sense of social interactions.
(False)
9. Bracketing refers to the process of separating qualitative data from quantitative data. (False)
10. A hermeneutic circle would not have relevance in a descriptive phenomenological study.
(True)
11. The nurse researcher Corbin coauthored a book with Glaser to provide practical guidance for
grounded theory studies. (False)
12. Grounded theory researchers seek to discover a main concern that people in certain
circumstances face. (True)
13. Phenomenological studies tend to involve fewer study participants than grounded theory
studies. (True)
14. In narrative analysis, the focus is on people’s stories. (True)
15. Content analysis is the approach used to discover key themes in grounded theory studies.
(False)
16. Being-in-the-world is a concept that is of relevance in case study research. (False)
17. Critical theory researchers want primarily to rigorously document and theorize about aspects
of a society or culture. (False)
18. Researchers and participants collaborate to produce and use knowledge in participatory
action research. (True)
Application Questions
1. Below is a brief description of a qualitative study. Read the summary and then respond to the
questions that follow:
Solomons investigated women who had given their babies up for adoption. She
conducted a study to explain the process women go through during the first year after
they have relinquished their babies. Solomons obtained her sample of 24 women through
a local support group for women who had given their babies up for adoption. Eight
women had made their decision regarding adoption during the first trimester of their
pregnancy. Another eight women did not decide until their third trimester, and the
remaining eight women made their decision in the hospital after they had delivered their
babies. Each of the 24 participants was interviewed once in depth. Solomons asked them
the following question: “Tell me about your post-birth experiences. What has it been like
for you to adjust to having given up your baby for adoption?” The interviews, which were
tape-recorded, ranged in length from 30 to 60 minutes. When all 24 interviews were
completed, the constant comparative method was used to analyze the data. Analysis of
the transcribed interviews revealed that the basic problem these women had to cope with
over the first year after relinquishing their newborns was mourning the child they would
never have. Solomons reported that four themes emerged from the data analysis that
captured the lived experience of the participants.
Short Answer Questions
a. Based on the stated study purpose, what qualitative tradition would be most appropriate
for this study? (Grounded theory—it is a study designed to explain a social–
psychological process)
b. Is the study longitudinal or cross-sectional? (Cross-sectional—data were collected only
once.)
c. Does the study suggest that an emergent design was used? (No, it appears that all
design decisions, such as whom to sample and what questions to ask, were made before
Solomons went into the field.)
d. The summary indicates that constant comparison was used—is this approach congruent
with the research tradition for this study? (Yes, constant comparison is appropriate for a
grounded theory study.)
e. Was constant comparison done in a proper manner in this study? (No, constant
comparison should not be undertaken after all the data are collected; its intent is to
develop emerging conceptualizations that are refined by asking more focused questions
of subsequent study participants—who themselves are selected on the basis of the
emerging theory. In constant comparison, data collection and data comparison occur
simultaneously.)
Essay Questions
a. Describe how this study might be undertaken within an ideological framework.
b. Describe how this study might be altered such that a narrative analysis approach would
form the basis of the study.
2. Below are several research questions. Pick three of them and identify a qualitative tradition
that you think would provide a good context for a study addressing the question. Indicate
whether an ideological approach could be applied. Justify your responses. (If necessary, the
question can be slightly modified to achieve better congruence with a tradition.)
a. How do teenage smokers who are unable to quit smoking perceive their addiction to
cigarettes?
b. What are the experiences of heterosexual drug users who have HIV/AIDS?
c. How do terminally ill taciturn patients cope with the burden of their silent journey
toward death?
d. How does residence in a psychiatric hospital affect the patients’ feeling of
powerlessness?
e. How do women make decisions about mammography screening?
f. What is the meaning of living with a venous status ulcer for employed adults?
g. What are the health promotion beliefs of men and women who have recently emigrated
to the United States from Somalia?
h. How do nurses problem solve to resolve an ethical dilemma with their patients in the
coronary care unit?
i. What is the basic problem adolescents experience living with ADHD, and what is their
process of coping with that problem?
j. What was the experience of military nurses stationed in Pearl Harbor during the first
few days after the Japanese attack?