Qualitative Research in Nursing
Date of last revision : January 28, 2011 “Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts” -Albert Einstein
INTRODUCTION
• Qualitative research methods have become increasingly important as ways of developing nursing knowledge for evidence-based nursing practice. Qualitative research answers a wide variety of questions related to nursing's concern with human responses to actual or potential health problems. (Ploeg J, 1999)
• Qualitative research is a type of scientific research which has its roots in philosophy and human sciences.
• Qualitative research plays an important part in providing evidence for practice in nursing, and is gaining greater …show more content…

• In-depth interviews o optimal for collecting data on individuals’ personal histories, perspectives, and experiences, particularly when sensitive topics are being explored.
• Focus groups o effective in eliciting data on the cultural norms of a group and in generating broad overviews of issues of concern to the cultural groups or subgroups represented.
SAMPLING IN QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
Sampling methods used in qualitative research are:
1. purposive sampling
2. quota sampling, and
3. snowball sampling
• Purposive sampling o most common sampling strategy. o according to preselected criteria relevant to a particular research question o Sample sizes depend on the resources and time available, as well as the study’s objectives.
• Quota sampling o In quota sampling, rsearcher decides while designing the study how many people with which characteristics to include as participants. o Characteristics such as age, place of residence, gender, class, profession, marital status, use of a particular contraceptive method, HIV status, etc. are taken as inclusion criteria. o The criteria chosen by the researcher allow him to focus on people he thinks would be most likely to experience, know about, or have insights into the research topic.
• Snowball sampling o Also known as chain referral sampling. o In