Part 6 - Sampling and generalising The point of this series is not to cover what’s already in dozens of qualitative health research textbooks, but to offer some ‘back room’ insights into the possibilities and limitations of this underused resource. So far I’ve looked at where QHR came from, the concept of criticality, the ‘insider’ or emic perspective, power, and last week, your role as the researcher. Today I want to focus on one of the most common questions people pose about QHR, and that is “How can you possibly generalise from a study when you only have six participants?” This is a great question. Not only because it strikes at the heart of one of the important differences … [Read more...] about Qualitative health research – A guide for the perplexed
CPN Digest #74
Something for the weekend: Phenomenology and its relevance to medical humanities: the example of Hermann Schmitz’s theory of feelings as half-thingsAdvice for Writing -- and Finishing -- Your DissertationA Swiss hospital drone in operationHow a research fraud and the DSM shaped a profession in AmericaThe academic workforce is older, whiter and maler than clinicians, and that’s a problemReflections on the Process of Visual Storytelling for Children and Youth Living With Cystic Fibrosis and Muscular Dystrophy in CanadaA critical history of competitionPara-swimmer Grace Harvey talks about walking in a robotic suitPG students’ expectations of their lecturersWhat postmodern authors should I … [Read more...] about CPN Digest #74
Qualitative Health Research – A guide for the perplexed: Part 5 – You
So far in this weekly series on qualitative health research, I’ve talked about where QHR came from, criticality, the ‘insider’ or emic perspective, and last week focused on power. This weeks post continues the theme of power, but concentrates especially on your role as the researcher. In most quantitative research, youare supposed to disappear, to recede into the background, and protect the data from your polluting influence. Of course, this is only possible to a degree, because you have often been involved in every stage of the design and development of the study. But when it comes to the data collection and analysis stage, you are too heavily influenced by your own … [Read more...] about Qualitative Health Research – A guide for the perplexed: Part 5 – You
CPN Digest #73
Something for the weekend: The impact of social media addiction on employee wellbeing and productivityThe View From the Inside: Positionality and Insider ResearchCan Fitbits predict now the flu?Doctoral scholarships to study at AUT now openHealthy environments: A medical humanities symposium (with our own Kay Nias)Innovative Lives: Adaptive Skateboarding, WCMX, and Inventing Your Own PathWhy and how academics write (badly)And some very trendy authors in this month’s edition of Qualitative Inquiry7th annual conference of the Society for Qualitative Inquiry in PsychologyNew online Graduate Certificate in Disability StudiesWomen’s Gendered Experiences of Traumatic Brain InjuryQualitative … [Read more...] about CPN Digest #73
Qualitative Health Research: A guide for the perplexed – Power
Part 4 So far in this weekly series on qualitative health research, I’ve talked about where QHR came from, and the important parts played by criticality and the ‘insider’ or emic perspective. This week I want to look at power. Perhaps one of the most important methodological decisions a qualitative health researcher will make in undertaking a piece of research is exactly how much theydesign, and how much is done with the people they are researching. Perhaps not surprisingly then, attacking the traditional power of the quantitative researcher and the institutions they represent has led to some of the most radical technical developments in QHR and healthcare … [Read more...] about Qualitative Health Research: A guide for the perplexed – Power
CPN Digest #72
Something for the weekend: Keep an eye on telehealthIf you record, they will not come – but does it really matter? Student attendance and lecture recording at an Australian law schoolCfP: Healthy Environments: A Medical Humanities SymposiumA bad cup of tea and the birth of modern statisticsThe Story of Ralstonism, One of History's More Bizarre Health MovementsThe power of critical thinking in learning and teaching. An interview with Professor Stephen D. BrookfieldA life of long weekends is alluring, but the shorter working day may be more practicalEthnography in health professional educationCritical reflective practice and its sourcesAnother work is possibleMore surveillance … [Read more...] about CPN Digest #72
Qualitative health research 101
Part 3 Over the last two weeks I’ve been writing about some of the key principles lying beneath qualitative research. A lot of people think that qualitative health research (QHR) is just about asking people about how they feel, and writing lengthy research papers that are ‘simply talking trivialities in high sounding language’ (Cheek 1998). But that’s because qualitative health research is often misunderstood, badly taught, and confusing for practitioners reared on the red meat of clinical trials. (There is an important ‘other’ reason, but we can’t get to that just yet). In the first in the series (here), I explained a bit of the history of QHR, and in last week’s post (here) I … [Read more...] about Qualitative health research 101
