Qualitative Analysis for Social Scientists

Strauss, Anselm L.

doi:10.1017/cbo9780511557842

Cited by 8,197 publications

(6,084 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…All interviews were audio-taped and later transcribed. Data analysis was facilitated using a grounded theory style of analysis (Glaser and Strauss, 1967;Glaser, 1978Glaser, , 1992Strauss, 1987). The central techniques of grounded theory are the constant comparative method, openness to evolving theoretical insights, and theoretical sampling where questions generated from early fieldwork were used to guide subsequent data gathering.…”

Section: Methodsologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Midwifery practice and the crisis of modernity: implications for the role of the midwife

Hyde

Roche-Reid

2004

Social Science & Medicine

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Publisher ElsevierItem record/more information http://hdl.handle.net/10197/4187 Publisher's statement þÿ T h i s i s t h e a u t h o r s v e r s i o n o f a w o r k t h a t w a s a c c e p t e d f o r p u b l i c a t i o n i n S o c i a l S c i e n c e &Midwifery practice and the crisis of modernity: implications for the role of the midwife AbstractAlmost since its inception, the concept of modernity was found to display tensions between its emancipatory potential to liberate the human subject from the manacles of tradition, and the application of reason to co-ordinate and control the natural world through scientific knowledge. This paper presents a qualitative analysis of in-depth interviews with 12 midwives about their role in the Irish maternity services and argues that, in a period of late modernity, these tensions continue to manifest themselves in the context of the midwife's role. Although the contemporary period is marked by a loss of faith in scientific truths, widely contested obstetric knowledge and practices continue to exercise mastery over nature while undermining a central feature of the midwife's role-the liberation of the autonomous subject. Drawing on the theory of communicative action developed by the critical theorist Jurgen Habermas, it is argued that the midwife's role in facilitating the autonomous choices of women through communicative action is impeded by the colonization of the lifeworld of labour and childbirth by the technocratic system of obstetrics. Although participants reported that their role involved empowering women and facilitating choices through dialogue congruent with communicative action, data also suggested that participants used strategic communication with clients aimed at achieving particular ends. The use of strategic communication was linked to the way in which the midwife's role is determined to a large extent by the practices and protocols of obstetrics, and also to the notion of client passivity. The instrumental rationality of obstetrics is linked to an outcome orientation to power and money, and a political economy perspective of medicine. It appears that communicative action between midwives and obstetricians is important in bringing about structural changes to facilitate the conditions for communicative action between midwives and their clients. r

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Section: Methodsologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Midwifery practice and the crisis of modernity: implications for the role of the midwife

Hyde

Roche-Reid

2004

Social Science & Medicine

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“…The following concept-driven questions created an organisational framework: 1) facilitators, and 2) barriers. Data were then given open codes (15), which were arranged in relation to which of the key questions they concerned, providing 'meaning units' (16) for either: 'barriers' or 'facilitators'. Following this, open codes were then inductively analysed into tentative categories and submitted to a process of constant comparison (17) to establish that: 1) the categories differed significantly from each other, and 2) the emerging themes were both embodied by the quotes within them, as well as being internally consistent (18).…”

Section: Brief Report Implementing a Mediterranean Diet Interventionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Implementing a Mediterranean diet intervention into a RCT: Lessons learned from a non-Mediterranean based country

Middleton

Keegan

Smith

et al. 2015

J Nutr Health Aging

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IntroductionIn light of the accumulating scientific evidence, the Mediterranean diet (MD) is suggested to have a positive effect on cardiovascular health, particularly in relation to chronic disease development (1-4). Recommendations strongly encourage a Mediterranean-like dietary pattern for prevention of major chronic diseases (5, 6). In the United Kingdom, several credible organisations that provide dietary information have promoted consumption of the MD to the public, including NHS Choices (7) and Patient.co.uk (8). Little is known about the pragmatic and cultural perspectives of adopting the MD in this non-Mediterranean country and the concept of how British citizens incorporate a Mediterranean diet (MD) into daily life (e.g. food availability, cost, personal preferences and preparation) has remained unexplored. This study addresses this gap and highlights the barriers and facilitators to eating the MD, based on a small sample of British citizens who had participated in an experimental study in the north-east of England (9, 10). The previous study investigated the combined effects of the MD and an exercise intervention on lower-and upper-limb cutaneous microvascular function in a healthy middle-aged population. MethodsThis study was granted ethical approval by a University of Lincoln ethics committee. A qualitative methodology was employed to investigate participant experiences regarding barriers and facilitators which impacted upon their experience whist eating the MD during the experimental trial. This type of inquiry is important to investigate food-related behaviour, understanding 'how' and 'why' individuals act regarding food choices and consumption (11). This study used semi-structured focus groups with the expectation that rich contextual information from the participants' views and perspectives would be generated.A purposive sample (n=11) of adult participants, who had previously enrolled on an 8-week MD intervention study (9), was approached by email invitation. The invitation outlined the opportunity to discuss the experience of attempting the MD with other participants involved in the original study, in a University location at a mutually convenient time. All participants were encouraged to attend a focus group with their co-habiting partner (if relevant) to discuss their experiences at home during the trial. Each participant received a £10 shopping voucher for participation.Eight of the eleven participants from the original study (9) took part in this study. Three co-habiting partners also attended. In total, 11 participants (mean age = 54.3±4.0 years) attended three focus groups (mean time = 32±10 minutes) which were staged up to two months after the original study at a University location at a mutually convenient time.Focus group discussions were facilitated by the lead researcher and an experienced qualitative researcher and were Thematic analysis from the focus groups revealed that participants considered that the MD intervention had introduced a better quality of food, widening the food-hor...

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“…The use of exploratory factor analysis to postulate common causes is a striking exception, although the explicit use of this method as an abductive generator of elementary plausible theory is rarely acknowledged. Grounded theory method (Strauss, 1987), which is increasingly used in behavioral research, can be regarded as an abductive method that helps generate theories that explain the qualitative data patterns from which they are derived. However, it does not confine itself to existential abduction, and it imposes weaker constraints on the abductive reasoning permitted by the researcher than does exploratory factor analysis.…”

Section: Phenomena Detection and Theory Construction Againmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Abductive Theory of Scientific Method.

Haig

2005

Psychological Methods

265

195

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A broad theory of scientific method is sketched that has particular relevance for the behavioral sciences. This theory of method assembles a complex of specific strategies and methods that are used in the detection of empirical phenomena and the subsequent construction of explanatory theories. A characterization of the nature of phenomena is given, and the process of their detection is briefly described in terms of a multistage model of data analysis. The construction of explanatory theories is shown to involve their generation through abductive, or explanatory, reasoning, their development through analogical modeling, and their fuller appraisal in terms of judgments of the best of competing explanations. The nature and limits of this theory of method are discussed in the light of relevant developments in scientific methodology.Keywords: scientific method, phenomena detection, theory construction, abductive reasoning, research methodology[T]he attempt to understand and improve methods, and to do so via theorizing them, is at the center of an intelligently evolving cognition (Clifford Hooker, 1987, p. 291) This article is concerned with scientific method in the behavioral sciences. Its principal goal is to outline a broad theory of scientific method by making use of selected developments in contemporary research methodology. The time now seems right to intensify efforts to assemble knowledge of research methods into larger units of understanding. Currently, behavioral scientists use a plethora of specific research methods and a number of different investigative strategies when studying their domains of interest. Among this diversity, the well-known inductive and hypotheticodeductive accounts of scientific method have brought some order to our investigative practices. The former method speaks to the discovery of empirical generalizations, whereas the latter method is used to test hypotheses and theories in terms of their predictive success.However, although inductive and hypothetico-deductive methods are commonly regarded as the two main theories of scientific method (Laudan, 1981; and, in fact, are sometimes regarded as the principal claimants for the title of the definitive scientific method), they are better thought of as restrictive accounts of method that can be used to meet specific research goals (Nickles, 1987), not broad accounts of method that pursue a range of research goals. In fashioning empirical generalizations, the inductive method undoubtedly addresses an important part of scientific inquiry. However, it is a part only. Of equal importance is the process of theory construction. Here, however, the hypothetico-deductive method, with its focus on theory testing, speaks only to one, although important, part of the theory construction process (Simon, 1977).The theory of method outlined in this article is a broader account of scientific method than either the inductive or hypothetico-deductive theories of method. This more comprehensive theory of method endeavors to describe systematically how one ca...

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Qualitative Analysis for Social Scientists

Cited by 8,197 publications

References 23 publications

Midwifery practice and the crisis of modernity: implications for the role of the midwife

Midwifery practice and the crisis of modernity: implications for the role of the midwife

Implementing a Mediterranean diet intervention into a RCT: Lessons learned from a non-Mediterranean based country

An Abductive Theory of Scientific Method.

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