Teamwork in Qualitative Research

Abstract

Multicountry teamwork in qualitative research is receiving increased recognition in an attempt to address global health problems. We report our experience of teamwork implementing a multicountry study (Zambia, South Africa, and Kenya), employing qualitative research to gain insight into met needs of contraception. Using this study example, we demonstrate the innovative development of a multicountry, south-south relationship (i.e., collaboration and sharing of knowledge between developing countries located in the Global South) within the health-care research setting. In addition, strategies employed for a collaborative research process and approaches used for data collection and analysis are described. We also describe the parallel but interlinked processes of developing a collaborative relationship, rigorous data collection, and the process of teamwork in data analysis. We discuss how we collaboratively developed and tested codes and themes and the use of a shared codebook in a team. The end result was country-specific data analyses reports using a single shared codebook, allowing for analyses that were appropriate to the region yet comparable across countries. The success of this project can be attributed to the methodological rigor, facilitated by intense communications, and support processes in this south-south collaboration.

The sustainability of knowledge brokerage of the mental health improvement outcomes framework in Scotland: a follow-up analysis

“…The data was analysed by a research team (JC and MK) using a deductive team approach to thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006;Crabtee & Miller, 1999). Teamwork in qualitative research is increasing in popularity and can help broaden conceptual understanding of the research question (Milford et al, 2017). It has also been noted that health settings may provide ideal contexts in which researchers from different epistemological backgrounds and disciplines can collaborate on research projects (Ulin et al, 2012 as cited in Milford et al 2017).…”

“…Teamwork in qualitative research is increasing in popularity and can help broaden conceptual understanding of the research question (Milford et al, 2017). It has also been noted that health settings may provide ideal contexts in which researchers from different epistemological backgrounds and disciplines can collaborate on research projects (Ulin et al, 2012 as cited in Milford et al 2017). Consequently, this collaborative team approach was adopted for the current study.…”

Rethinking Strategies for Positive Newborn Screening Result (NBS+) Delivery (ReSPoND): a process evaluation of co-designing interventions to minimise impact on parental emotional well-being and stress

“…An inductive approach will be adopted. One interview transcript will be coded separately by two members of the research team (double coded) in order to aid coding comparisons and inform and align code development [31]. A code book will be developed based on these comparisons and subsequent discussions in order to define the codes to be used.…”

“…This will be an ongoing, iterative process; new codes may be developed during data analysis and the definition of codes refined as analysis progresses [32]. Collating codes into potential themes and reviewing and defining the themes will be undertaken jointly by the two members of the research team who generated the initial codes [31, 33]. Themes identified from parent interviews will be made into a 30-min composite film [20–25].…”

“…A deductive approach will be employed, and themes will be generated using a manifest/sematic approach in order to stay close to the data. The process described by Braun and Clarke [33] will be followed as described in phase 2, but data will be jointly coded by two members of the research team using NVivo software to ensure reliability of coding [31]. Quantitative data, such as ranking or rating data, will be summarised using descriptive statistics.…”