Theoretical sampling is a hallmark of grounded theory methodology, and yet there is little guidance available for researchers on how to implement this process. A review of recently published grounded theory studies in Qualitative Health Research revealed that researchers often indicate that they use theoretical sampling to choose new participants, to modify interview guides, or to add data sources as a study progresses, but few describe how theoretical sampling is implemented in response to emergent findings. In this article, two issues that arose relative to theoretical sampling in an ongoing grounded theory study are discussed. A theoretical sampling guide that was developed by the authors' research team to facilitate systematic decision making and to enhance the audit trail relative to theoretical sampling is described, and an example of how the guide was used to develop a category is presented.

Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) is a prevalent social and healthcare problem. The processes by which individuals heal from CSA are not clearly understood. The purpose of this study was to develop a theoretical model to describe how adults heal from CSA. Community recruitment for an on-going, broader project on sexual violence throughout the lifespan, referred to as the Sexual Violence Study, yielded a subsample of 48 women and 47 men who had experienced CSA. During semi-structured, open-ended interviews, they were asked to describe their experiences with healing from CSA and other victimization throughout their lives. Constructivist grounded theory methods were used with these data to develop constructs and hypotheses about healing. For the Sexual Violence Study, frameworks were developed to describe the participants' life patterns, parenting experiences, disclosures about sexual violence, spirituality, and altruism. Several analytic techniques were used to synthesize the findings of these frameworks to develop an overarching theoretical model that describes healing from CSA. The model includes four stages of healing, five domains of functioning, and six enabling factors that facilitate movement from one stage to the next. The findings indicate that healing is a complex and dynamic trajectory. The model can be used to alert clinicians to a variety of processes and enabling factors that facilitate healing in several domains and to guide discussions on important issues related to healing from CSA.

Senior students with a history of depression, low self-esteem, and little social support were more likely to experience high levels of stress. This gives educators the potential to identify at risk students and establish stress reduction programs. Encouraging students to use individualized coping strategies will be beneficial.

Objective: to describe our experience integrating quantitative and qualitative data in a mixed methods study.Methods: we described our experience through real-life examples based on a nursing doctoral thesis on professional practice governance within a hospital environment.Results: three main topics are delineated in this article: the foundation, characteristics, and typologies of mixed methods research; quantitative and qualitative data collection, analysis, and integration; and the benefits and challenges of mixed methods research. Conclusion:it is supported that a mixed method research allowed for the identification of the convergence and divergence between the qualitative and the quantitative data, contributing for the production of results that complement each other. DESCRIPTORS:Nursing research. Methodology. Nursing administration research. Nursing service, Hospital. Management. Working environment. INTEGRAÇÃO ENTRE DADOS QUANTITATIVOS E QUALITATIVOS EM UMA PESQUISA DE MÉTODOS MISTOS RESUMOObjetivo: descrever a experiência da integração entre dados quantitativos e qualitativos, por meio de uma pesquisa de métodos mistos.Método: trata-se de um relato de experiência da utilização dessa abordagem metodológica em um estudo de tese de doutorado em enfermagem sobre a governança da prática profissional de enfermagem no ambiente hospitalar.Resultados: o texto apresenta três tópicos principais: fundamentação teórica sobre as características e tipologias dos estudos de métodos mistos; procedimentos de coleta, análise e combinação dos dados; e benefícios e desafios da realização desse tipo de estudo.Conclusão: sustenta-se que a realização de uma pesquisa de métodos mistos permitiu a identificação de convergências e divergências entre os dados qualitativos e quantitativos, contribuindo para a produção de resultados que se complementam entre si. DESCRITORES: INTEGRACIÓN ENTRE DATOS CUANTITATIVOS Y CUALITATIVOS EN UNA INVESTIGACIÓN DE MÉTODOS MISTOS RESUMENObjetivo: describir la experiencia de la integración entre datos cuantitativos y cualitativos, a través de una investigación de métodos mixtos.Método: se trata de un relato de experiencia de la utilización de ese enfoque metodológico en un estudio de tesis de doctorado en enfermería sobre la gobernanza de la práctica profesional de enfermería en el ambiente hospitalario.Resultados: tres temas principales se delinean en este artículo: las bases, características y tipologías de la investigación de métodos mixtos; recopilación, análisis e integración de datos cuantitativos y cualitativos; y los beneficios y desafíos de la investigación de métodos mixtos.Conclusión: se apoya que la realización de una investigación de métodos mixtos permitió la identificación de convergencias y divergencias entre los datos cualitativos y cuantitativos, contribuyendo a la producción de resultados que se complementan entre sí. DESCRIPTORES:Investigación en enfermería. Metodología. Investigación en administración de enfermería. Servicio hospitalario de enfermería. Gerencia. Ambiente ...

A qualitative metasynthesis was conducted to identify the essence of healing from sexual violence, as described by adults who experienced it as children or as adults. Based on the findings of 51 reports, four domains of healing were identified: (a) managing memories, (b) relating to important others, (c) seeking safety, and (c) reevaluating self. The ways of healing within each domain reflected opposing responses. The dialectical process identified for each of the four domains include, respectively: (a) calling forth memories, (b) regulating relationships with others, (c) constructing an “as-safe-as-possible” lifeworld, and (d) restoring a sense of self. These complex processes resulted in a new reality for the participants that was based on a greater sense of agency and provided a more satisfying life course.