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Editors note: Introduction to guidelines on reporting
qualitative research
Last year we developed statistical guide-lines for JAN papers.
Reviewers wereconsulted, drafts produced and furtherrefined after
more rounds of consulta-tion. The agreed guidelines are now onthe
JAN website and are used byreviewers and editors when
assessingpapers with statistical content, and wehope that authors
also consult them.
Next we turnedour attentionto papersbased on qualitative
research and wentthrough the same drafting, consultation
and redrafting process to produce similarguidelines. Reviewers
with particularexpertise in qualitative research and theeditorial
team participated in this, andthe guidelines are now available at
http://www.journalofadvancednursing.com.Wewill use the guidelines
when consideringqualitative research reports, and we askauthors to
consult them when writingtheir papers for submission to JAN.
What made us decide that we neededthese guidelines for
statistical and qualit-ative research articles? JANis the
highest
ranking international nursing journal lis-ted in the Institute
for Scientific Informa-tion Citation Reports: in 2002 it wasranked
10th of the 42 nursing journals onthe list, and hadan impact factor
of 0797.The Impact Factor for a given year isdefined as the total
number of citationsreceived in that year to articles publishedin
the previous two years, divided by thetotal number of citable items
published bythe journal in those two years. To improvethe quality
of JAN further, we try toensure that papers published are as
rigor-ous as possible. We know that authors
want this, because it adds to the prestigeof having an article
accepted for JAN.Readers want it too, so that they can relyon what
they read inJANas they look forsound research that they can
incorporateinto their own practice, research or teach-ing.
Supporting new authors is also one of
JANs aims, and we think that givingguidance will help new
contributors todesign their research, carry it out and
write it up using standards that areconsidered to be
trustworthy.
JAN was founded in 1976, whennursing education and research
wereon the way to becoming well-establishedin universities in the
United States ofAmerica. However, in other countriessuch as the
United Kingdom, Australia,Hong Kong and the Scandinavian
coun-tries, the move into higher education hasbeen more recent. For
some of us it maystill be necessary to convince colleagues
in other disciplines that nursing researchand education have a
rightful place inthe university and that our standards
ofscholarship are high enough to justifythis status. Increasingly,
too, the trend istowards multidisciplinary research andthis will
expose our work to scrutinybeyond our own discipline.
Research methodologies and methodsare shared among all
disciplines, whosemembers adapt them accordingly.
Prac-tice-orientated subjects such as nursingmay use different
combinations and
applications than others whose interfacewith humans as the focus
of theirwork is less direct, such as physics ormodern languages.
However, the funda-mental epistemologies and methodolo-gies
underpinning research are thesame whatever the field of
application,and the research approach chosen for aproject has
implications for the methodsused to carry it out. For example,
groun-ded theory involves concurrent data col-lection and analysis,
and first and secondlevel coding. Theoretical sampling maybe used
to develop the analysis, and
saturation may be achieved. A corecategory to which the other
categoriesarerelated should be identified, andsomestudies may allow
a grounded theory tobe developed. If all the data in a study
arecollected and then the analysis is done,then this cannot be
considered as groun-ded theory. If a number of discretethemes with
no interlinkages are repor-ted, this is not grounded theory; it
is
probably more appropriately termedthematic or content
analysis.
Phenomenology also has certain essen-tial features with which
some methodsare not compatible. Firstly, it is necessaryto
distinguish between the differentschools of phenomenology, such
asHusserlian, Heideggerian, Gadamerianor Ricoeurian, and then to
ensure thatimplementing the chosen approach isconsistent with its
principles. In allforms, however, data collection is relat-
ively unstructured. Interviews begin witha broad opening
question which invitesparticipants to talk about the topic
fromtheir own point of view. Follow-upquestions to encourage them
to expandon a particular point should take asimilar open approach
of the kind,Could you say a little more about that?or How did you
feel about that?. Aninterview guide, or list of possible areasof
interest, may be drawn up in advance,but a structured or
semi-structured inter-view schedule of questions to be asked of
all participants is incompatible with aphenomenological
approach.All reports of qualitative research
should discuss the findings in relationto the literature and
should includeconsideration of the rigour of the work,using
criteria appropriate to qualitativeresearch.
Nothing is ever the last word on atopic, and we hope to receive
feedbackon the content and application of theseguidelines. There
may also be othertopics within qualitative research, orother areas,
where it would be useful
to draw up similar guidelines. We hopethat readers who identify
such oppor-tunities will tell us about them andperhaps be involved
in developing themto help us take JAN forward in thedirection in
which authors, readers andreviewers would like it to progress.
Christine WebbExecutive Editor
544 2003 Blackwell Publishing Ltd
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B A S I C C R I T E R I A F O R A C C E P T A B I L I T Y Q U A
L I T A T I V E R E S E A R C H
ALL qualitative research reportsEssential
findings discussed in relation to the literature
consideration of rigour, using criteria appropriate for
qual-itative research
Grounded theoryEssential
concurrent data collection and analysis
theoretical sampling used as part of analysis
identification of a core category grounded in the data (a
studymay not reach the final stage of fully developing an
explan-
atory theory, but may usefully inform nursing by descriptionand
exploration)
first and second level coding (e.g. open, axial and
selectivecoding)
theoretical saturation
Not compatible with
all data being collected and then analysed afterwards thiswould
be thematic analysis, content analysis or similar
identification of discrete themes with no linking core
cate-gory
PhenomenologyEssential
statement of which form is being used (Husserl,
Heidegger,Gadamer, Ricoeur, etc.)
if Husserlian, discussion of bracketing and how this wasdone
focus on the meaning of experience (if Husserlian) or the
interpretation of meaning (if hermeneutic)
unstructured data collection, e.g. interview starting with avery
open question, followed up by general probes (Could
you say more about that? How did that make you feel? etc) use of
appropriate and systematic data analysis method, e.g.
Colaizzi, van Manen or an appropriate adaptation of
anestablished, credible process
transparency about the research process, e.g. use of
journaldata, how the authors horizon of understanding and
pre-understanding operated
attention is paid to representation (use of participant
voice/s
in the text)
identification of the essence of the phenomenon, not justthemes
or categories
Not compatible with structured methods of data collection, e.g.
semi-structured
interviews group methods of data collection, e.g. focus groups,
group
interviews
member checking, attempt to validate the interpretationwith
participants
Focus groupsEssential
discussion of the influence of interaction between partici-pants
on the data collected
Not compatible with
group (rather than individual) interviews done for conveni-ence
only, with no focus on interaction.
Biography
Essential relevance of individual biography
objective experiences
individual/s theorize about their life/lives
narrative segments included as data patterns of meaning
identified for events, process, themes
EthnographyEssential
describes and interprets a culture or social group
includes observations, interviews, artefacts
carried out over an extended period of time
description, analysis of cultural themes, interpretation
questions raised and lessons learned
narrative includes description of cultural behaviour of
anindividual or group
Case studyEssential
in-depth analysis of single or multiple case/s
multiple sources of data, e.g. documentation interviews,
observation, environmental detail
description, themes, assertions
description of case and context
development of issues, selected issues and assertions
consideration of rigour, using criteria appropriate for qual-
itative research
findings discussed in relation to the literature
Bibliography
Annells M. (2002) Grounded theory (Schneider Z., Elliott D.,
LoBiondo-woods G. & Haber J., eds). Nursing
Research:Methods, Critical Appraisal and Utilisation, 2nd edn.
Mosby,Sydney, pp. 163178.
Creswell J.W. (1998) Qualitative Inquiry and Research
design.Choosing Among Five Traditions. Sage Publications,
ThousandOaks, CA.
Giorgi A. (1988) Validity and reliability from a
phenomenological
perspective. In Recent Trends in Theoretical Psychology
(BakerW.J., Mos L.P., Rappard H.V. & Stam H.J., eds).
Springer-
Verlag, New York, pp. 167176.
Giorgi A. (1997) The theory, practice and evaluation of the
phe-
nomenologicalmethod as a qualitativeresearch procedure.Journalof
Phenomenological Psychology 28, 235260.
Stevens P.E. (1996) Focus groups. Collecting aggregate-level
data to
understand community health phenomena. Public Health Nur-sing
12, 170176.
Strauss A. & Corbin J. (1998) Basics of Qualitative
ResearchTechniques and Procedures of Developing Grounded
Theory.Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA.
Webb C. & Kevern J. (2001) Focus groups as a research
method: a
critique of some aspects of their use in nursing research.
Journalof Advanced Nursing 33, 798805.
Editors note
2003 Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Journal of Advanced Nursing,
42(6), 544545 545
