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Research is an approach with which human beings can attempt to answer questions and discover the unknowns. Research methodology is something that is determined by the researcher's attitude toward the universe as well as by the question he is trying to answer. Some essential questions regarding the research process are: "What is the nature of reality?", "What is the nature of the relationship between the scholar and the subject of interest?", and "How can one understand the subject, and what are the methods?". Research approaches can be categorized as quantitative and qualitative. In the former, measurement, prediction, and control are the bases, while in the latter, exploring, describing, and explaining the phenomena are fundamental. Among qualitative research methods, phenomenography is one of the newest methods. However, in spite of proving to be useful in various disciplines, it has yet to become popular, and many scholars mistake it for phenomenology. The focus of phenomenography is on what is known as the second-order perspective and the different ways that people can experience the same phenomenon, while phenomenology primarily emphasizes the first-order perspective and the similar essences that are derived from various experiences. This article aims to provide a better understanding of phenomenography through explaining it and comparing it with phenomenology in order to facilitate its proper and timely application in medical studies. I NT ROD U CT I ONResearch and its diverse methodologies have a long history in human-related sciences and have contributed to the understanding of behaviors and ideas of human beings in complex and ever-changing situations (1). Many studies are done using experimental or quantitative methods, and they focus on observable aspects in order to measure, predict, and control the phenomenon of interest. But, many human behaviors are not measurable and predictable by the use of this approach. On the other hand, there are qualitative methods which emphasize exploring, describing, and explaining human behavior (2, 3), and these can be employed to study human behaviors with an approach that goes beyond quantification. These methods help scholars to understand thoughts, emotions, and behaviors of people in various situations and contexts (4, 5). One less known qualitative method is phenomenography which was first introduced by Ference Marton and his colleagues in 1970 (1, 6). This research method originated from studies that were done on educational psychology in Sweden's Gutenberg University. At that institute, the scholars were interested in qualitative evaluating of learning and thinking experiences (6) which eventually led to the development of the phenomenographic method (7).The term phenomenography consists of two Greek words: phainomenon which means becoming visible and luminous, and graphia which means describing something (8). This term was first introduced by Sonnemann in 1954, but the real momentum to develop phenomenography as a research approach did not begin until the 19...

<p><strong>INTRODUCTION:</strong> Despite the importance of the hope level increment in the patients with major depression disorder, fewer interventions have been applied to improve the hope level in the psychiatric patients, especially the depressed individuals.</p><p><strong>OBJECTIVE:</strong> To identify the dignity therapy effect on the hope level in the patients with major depression disorder.</p><p><strong>METHOD:</strong> In this random controlled clinical trial, 58 patients with major depression disorder, who were hospitalized in Ibn-e-Sina psychiatric hospital of Mashhad, were separated into two intervention (28 individuals) and control (30 individuals) groups. The intervention group has taken the dignity therapy (based on the standard protocol in three 30-45 minutes sessions) and the control group have been undertaken the normal caregiving without intervention. The research tool was the Herth hope index, which was filled exactly before and after intervention. The data analysis has been done by SPSS 11.5 and exact Fischer tests, Chi square, independent t-test and paired t-test.</p><p><strong>RESULTS:</strong> 65.5 percent of the patients were female and 34.5 percent were male. Before the intervention, there was no significant statistical difference between the dignity therapy group (19.9±2.8) and the control group (20.5±1.6) in the average total hope score (p=0.39). However, the variations of the average total hope score before and after intervention between the dignity therapy group (4.7±2.9) and the control group (0.1±1.9) was significant (p&lt;0.001).</p><p><strong>CONCLUSIONS:</strong> According to the dignity therapy effect on the hope level increment in patients with major depression disorder, this unique and short clinical trial can be employed to increase the hope level in the patients with depression disorder.</p>

Background: Social stigma is the most common and challenging burden of care on the family of people with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) In Iran, despite the cultural and social influences, this issue has been less studied. Therefore, present study was conducted to determine the lived experiences of caregivers of patients with BPD of social stigma. Materials and Methods: This qualitative study was performed at Ibn Sina hospital in Mashhad, Iran from 2017 to 2019. Participants were selected by purposive and snowball sampling method. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews. Data saturation was achieved after 16 interviews. Finally, the data were analyzed by the method proposed by Diekelmann (1989). Results: In data analysis, one main theme and two sub-themes emerged. The main themes include Black shadow. Two sub-themes consisted of society dagger and secrecy. The sub-theme of society dagger included the two common meanings (inner turmoil in response to the stigma of others and weakening of family status among relatives and acquaintances). The sub-theme of secrecy comprised of the three common meanings (concealment of disease, hide hospitalization, and seclusion). Conclusions: An understanding of the experience of family stigma can lead to the development of supportive strategies to manage this problem among caregivers of patients with BPD. Nurses can support caregivers by offering them opportunities to discuss how stigma is disrupting their caregiving roles. They can also support the caregivers in negotiating the experienced social and emotional distress and when necessary, refer them to the other members of healthcare teams.

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