Using qualitative methods in comparative research

2010 ◽  
pp. 65-79
Author(s):  
Rosaline S. Barbour
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Methods ◽  
Cultural Sensitivity ◽  
Comparative Research ◽  
Qualitative Studies ◽  
Full Potential ◽  
Qualitative Approaches ◽  
Qualitative Work ◽  
Survey Instruments ◽  
Cross Country ◽  
Country Specific

Although quantitative and qualitative approaches are sometimes presented as being in opposition to each other, it is argued that they can, more usefully, be viewed as complementary. Qualitative work can make an important contribution both to pan-European and country-specific comparative research. Most studies have capitalized on qualitative methods at the outset of projects (principally for their ability to develop survey instruments) and, perhaps, less frequently, in order to enhance cultural sensitivity of such tools. However, more imaginative sequencing of methods can pay enormous dividends. Qualitative methods can also furnish hypotheses for investigation in quantitative phases of research studies, and can also be employed in order to better understand the mechanisms linking variables as identified by quantitative work. In particular, qualitative methods can be used to advantage in exploring surprising or anomalous findings. Stand-alone qualitative studies are also valuable, and can address comparison, since they can be harnessed to study change over time or, even, cross-country comparisons. If we are to realize the full potential of qualitative studies in comparative research, however, we need to pay attention to research design issues, seeking to be more imaginative in our sequencing of methods and appreciating the potential of purposive sampling to illuminate comparisons.

scholarly journals Pragmatic approaches to analyzing qualitative data for implementation science: an introduction

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shoba Ramanadhan ◽  
Anna C. Revette ◽  
Rebekka M. Lee ◽  
Emma L. Aveling
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Methods ◽  
Implementation Science ◽  
Qualitative Inquiry ◽  
Practice Change ◽  
Analytic Approach ◽  
Pragmatic Approach ◽  
Framework Analysis ◽  
Research And Practice ◽  
Qualitative Approaches ◽  
Science Projects

AbstractQualitative methods are critical for implementation science as they generate opportunities to examine complexity and include a diversity of perspectives. However, it can be a challenge to identify the approach that will provide the best fit for achieving a given set of practice-driven research needs. After all, implementation scientists must find a balance between speed and rigor, reliance on existing frameworks and new discoveries, and inclusion of insider and outsider perspectives. This paper offers guidance on taking a pragmatic approach to analysis, which entails strategically combining and borrowing from established qualitative approaches to meet a study’s needs, typically with guidance from an existing framework and with explicit research and practice change goals.Section 1 offers a series of practical questions to guide the development of a pragmatic analytic approach. These include examining the balance of inductive and deductive procedures, the extent to which insider or outsider perspectives are privileged, study requirements related to data and products that support scientific advancement and practice change, and strategic resource allocation. This is followed by an introduction to three approaches commonly considered for implementation science projects: grounded theory, framework analysis, and interpretive phenomenological analysis, highlighting core analytic procedures that may be borrowed for a pragmatic approach. Section 2 addresses opportunities to ensure and communicate rigor of pragmatic analytic approaches. Section 3 provides an illustrative example from the team’s work, highlighting how a pragmatic analytic approach was designed and executed and the diversity of research and practice products generated.As qualitative inquiry gains prominence in implementation science, it is critical to take advantage of qualitative methods’ diversity and flexibility. This paper furthers the conversation regarding how to strategically mix and match components of established qualitative approaches to meet the analytic needs of implementation science projects, thereby supporting high-impact research and improved opportunities to create practice change.

scholarly journals Blind spots in stigma research? Broadening our perspective on mental illness stigma by exploring ‘what matters most’ in modern Western societies

2021 ◽  
Vol 30 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Schomerus ◽  
M. C. Angermeyer
Keyword(s):  
Mental Illness ◽  
Cultural Context ◽  
Value Orientations ◽  
Mental Illness Stigma ◽  
Full Potential ◽  
Qualitative Work ◽  
Conservative Values ◽  
Stigma Experiences ◽  
Blind Spots ◽  
What Matters

Abstract Aims The theory of ‘what matters most’ (WMM) has been developed to understand differences in mental illness stigma between cultures, postulating that stigma becomes most pervasive in situations that matter most in a specific cultural context. The rise of populism in Western societies demonstrates that also within one cultural context, different values ‘matter most’ to different groups. We expand the WMM framework to explore the spectrum of stigma manifestations within Western societies, relating it to both conservative/authoritarian and liberal/modern values. From our findings, we will develop hypotheses on how further research into value orientations and stigma might address potential blind spots in stigma research. Methods Based on a narrative review of the literature on mental illness stigma and value orientations, we apply the WMM framework to cultural mechanisms of stigma within modern Western societies. Results There are several studies showing an association between traditional, authoritarian, conservative values with stronger mental illness stigma, while studies examining the stigma within liberal, modern value orientations are scarce. We hypothesise on situations where encountering a person with mental illness could threaten liberal values and thus might provoke stigma among persons with such value orientations. For example, living with a person with mental illness could be seen as consuming energy and time, thereby jeopardising ‘self-actualisation’, the modern value of realising one's own full potential. As a result, a person highly valuing self-actualisation might try to avoid contact with persons with mental illness. Instances of potential ‘liberal stigma’ also include structural stigma or self-stigma, when, e.g. changing assumptions of what is considered ‘normal’ increase perceptions of being fundamentally different when experiencing mental illness. Conclusions ‘WMM’ appears to be a useful framework to direct research to potential blind spots within the field of stigma research. Looking at instances where liberal values conflict with dealing with a person with mental illness could provide a more comprehensive understanding of stigma experiences among persons with mental illness. However, for measuring stigma, tapping into liberal variations of mental illness stigma is methodologically challenging. Qualitative work could be the first step to elicit potential stigma experiences based on conflicts with liberal values.

scholarly journals 29.F. Workshop: The Health Systems and Policy Monitor network: reforms and health system changes in the spotlight

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Keyword(s):  
Health Policy ◽  
Knowledge Transfer ◽  
Health System ◽  
Health Systems ◽  
Comparative Research ◽  
World Health ◽  
State Of Health ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Cross Country ◽  
The Eu

Abstract The European Observatory established the Health Systems and Policy Monitor (HSPM) network in 2008, bringing together an international group of high-profile institutions from Europe and beyond with high academic standing in health systems and policy analysis. An important step was taken in 2011, when the Bertelsmann Health Policy Monitor, a 20-country-project with already significant overlap with the current HSPM network, merged with the Observatory's network of national lead institutions. Today, the network includes 40 institutions from 31 countries, with members participating in a wide range of activities and collaborations, such as writing the Observatory's flagship health system reports (HiTs), keeping the health policy community up-to-date on health system developments via the HSPM web platform, and contributing their expertise to reports, studies and knowledge transfer exercises co-ordinated by the Observatory for a variety of audiences, including ministries of health and international organisations such as the World Health Organization and the European Commission. In addition, network members participate in an annual meeting, hosted in a different member country every year, coming together over two days to exchange knowledge and experiences about the various health system reforms happening in their countries. The aim of these meetings is to present, discuss and start comparative research collaborations of the members that can inform policymaking. As part of a collaboration with the journal Health Policy, researchers of the HSPM network have published more than 100 articles on cross-country comparisons of policies or on ongoing nation health reforms in a special section - the Health Reform Monitor - of the journal. This workshop aims to provide the audience with an overview of the network and its expanding range of activities. An introductory presentation will briefly introduce the origins of the network and discuss its current line of work. The second presentation will provide an overview of reform trends that are routinely collected during the annual meetings as part of the “reform roundup”. The third presentation will give an example of how the network has contributed to the European Commission's State of Health in the EU initiative, by performing a 'rapid response” that informed the companion report to the State of Health in the EU country health profiles 2019. The fourth presentation is a typical example of the kind of collaborative work that the network is undertaking, i.e. involving multiple countries on a topic of shared interest. The workshop will conclude with a debate with the audience about the conceptual and methodological challenges as well as opportunities and future directions of cross-country comparative research and the HSPM network in particular. Key messages The Health Systems and Policy Monitor Network provides detailed descriptions of health systems and provides up to date information on reforms and changes that are particularly policy relevant. The Health Systems and Policy Monitor Network increasingly engages in comparative health systems research and knowledge transfer activities.

scholarly journals Creativity as a Methodological dimension of Social Research between Quantity and Quality

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. e049
Author(s):  
Francesco Sacchetti
Keyword(s):  
Social Research ◽  
Quantitative Approach ◽  
Creative Processes ◽  
Methodological Choices ◽  
Personal Involvement ◽  
Qualitative Approaches ◽  
First Case ◽  
Qualitative Work ◽  
The Creation ◽  
A Performance

In this work I address creativity in the process of social sciences research, comparing quantitative and qualitative approaches. In discussing creativity I go back to Chomsky and his distinction between rule-governed and rule-changing creativity. In my analysis I suggest that the quantitative approach is characterized by rule-governed creativity, the qualitative one by rule-changing creativity: these are two models of creativity that the Chomskian vision links to a set of rules. Thus in the first case the creation of the tools by which the researcher collects information is submitted to a set of rules related to substantial and procedural competences. In the second case the creative phase does not have a place in the creation of a tool, but rather in a performance. The idea of performance as a constitutive part in qualitative research is analysed on a substantial basis, revealing the implications of distinct creative processes under different methodological choices. Whilst a quantitative approach requires using procedural and substantial competences, I suggest that in a qualitative enquiry the researcher’s fieldwork is considered as a ‘performance’ because of its adaptive character. The researcher is constantly confronted with unforeseen situations, surrounded by an unknown environment. Also, this use of the notion of ‘performance’ comprehends both elements of the process as well as of the outcome of fieldwork, as it recalls peculiar characteristics of qualitative work: action and interaction, personal involvement and, above all, orientation to a purpose (in this context, the teleological purpose of knowledge production).

scholarly journals Inclusive Universities in a Globalized World

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-5
Author(s):  
Liudvika Leišytė ◽  
Rosemary Deem ◽  
Charikleia Tzanakou
Keyword(s):  
Policy Making ◽  
Social Inclusion ◽  
Thematic Issue ◽  
Agents Of Change ◽  
Multi Level ◽  
Points Of View ◽  
Cross Country ◽  
Theoretical Thinking ◽  
Globalized World ◽  
Country Specific

This thematic issue of Social Inclusion focuses on universities as inclusive organisations in a variety of different countries and higher education (HE) systems. It explores how these institutions aim, succeed or fail to become inclusive organisations, what policies and processes help achieve these goals and how academics and students can become agents of change through inclusive teaching and research cultures. The contributions in this thematic issue point to the multi‐level as well as multi‐faceted challenges and characteristics of inclusion in HE in general and in universities in particular, based on both student and academic points of view. They offer innovative conceptual ways of thinking as well as measuring inclusion. Further, they point out the importance of context in understanding the challenges of achieving equality and inclusion in universities through country‐specific as well as cross‐country comparisons of various aspects of diversity and inclusivity. We hope this thematic issue will inspire theoretical thinking, support practitioners and encourage policy‐making about more responsible ways of defining and fostering inclusive universities in a globalised world.

scholarly journals Towards Cultural Sensitivity in Societal Development

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kuba Krys ◽  
Yukiko Uchida ◽  
Colin Andrew Capaldi ◽  
Katarzyna Cantarero ◽  
Claudio Torres ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Sensitivity ◽  
Comprehensive Analysis ◽  
Pairwise Comparisons ◽  
Scaling Analysis ◽  
Poverty Eradication ◽  
Multidimensional Scaling Analysis ◽  
Lay Beliefs ◽  
Societal Development ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Country Specific

People across cultures differ in behaviours, thoughts and preferences. Cultural sensitivity – i.e., acknowledgment of these cultural differences – in development science is a postulate known since at least the 1960s, but has remained understudied. The goal of the current paper is to address this gap and to investigate folk theories of societal development, and in particular to identify both universal and culturally specific lay beliefs on what constitutes good societal development. In this study we collected data on preferences in social developmental from 2,684 participants across nine countries from five continents. We measured preferences towards twenty-eight different development aims, and separately for preferences towards three aims constituting Human Development Index. We used a comprehensive analysis approach, consisting of multidimensional scaling, analysis of variance, and pairwise comparisons to characterize universal and country specific preference patterns. Our results demonstrate that what people understand as modernization remains substantially universal across countries, but specific pathways of development and preferences towards these pathways tend to be different between countries. We also distinguished three facets of modernization: basics for modernization (e.g., trust, safety, economic development), welfare aims (e.g., poverty eradication, education), and inclusive aims (e.g., openness, gender equality, human rights). Importantly, in all studied countries, we found that each of the three types of modernization is much more preferred than conventional aims (e.g., military, demographic, religion). Cultural sensitivity may be reflected in how development is conceptualised and measured, and in this paper we propose a method of implementing our findings into development indexes

scholarly journals Individual solutions to collective problems: the paradoxical treatment of environmental issues on Mexican and French YouTubers' videos

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (07) ◽  
pp. A07
Author(s):  
Cecilia Lartigue ◽  
Guillaume Carbou ◽  
Muriel Lefebvre
Keyword(s):  
Social Construction ◽  
Environmental Issues ◽  
Streaming Video ◽  
Environmental Discourse ◽  
Country Comparison ◽  
The Social ◽  
Environmental Discourses ◽  
Cross Country ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Country Specific

The impact of human activity on our planet is undeniable. However, this matter of fact is not fully understandable without analyzing the narratives through which people make sense of it. In this study, we aim to describe the narratives present in environmental discourses of Mexican and French YouTubers' videos. This corpus is intended to show how environmental issues are framed in the ever-growing discursive arena of entertainment and “influencing” streaming video. We set out to perform a cross-country comparison, with the purpose of contributing to the discussion of whether environmental discourse is country-specific or shared by various nations and, possibly, even global. Our study contributes to the understanding of the social construction of the environment via these discourses. Our main result points to a paradoxical treatment of environmental issues: the YouTubers of our sample represent them as collectively induced problems, but seem to mainly believe that individual-based solutions would resolve them. More broadly, our study suggests a tendency to the individualization and, therefore, the depoliticization of environmental issues as well as a globalization of the environmental discourses in YouTubers' videos.

scholarly journals How do stakeholders experience the adoption of electronic prescribing systems in hospitals? A systematic review and thematic synthesis of qualitative studies

2019 ◽  
pp. bmjqs-2018-009082
Author(s):  
Albert Farre ◽  
Gemma Heath ◽  
Karen Shaw ◽  
Danai Bem ◽  
Carole Cummins
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Grey Literature ◽  
Implementation Strategies ◽  
Implementation Process ◽  
Qualitative Studies ◽  
Electronic Prescribing ◽  
Bibliographic Databases ◽  
Full Potential ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Research Guidelines

BackgroundElectronic prescribing (ePrescribing) or computerised provider/physician order entry (CPOE) systems can improve the quality and safety of health services, but the translation of this into reduced harm for patients remains unclear. This review aimed to synthesise primary qualitative research relating to how stakeholders experience the adoption of ePrescribing/CPOE systems in hospitals, to help better understand why and how healthcare organisations have not yet realised the full potential of such systems and to inform future implementations and research.MethodsWe systematically searched 10 bibliographic databases and additional sources for citation searching and grey literature, with no restriction on date or publication language. Qualitative studies exploring the perspectives/experiences of stakeholders with the implementation, management, use and/or optimisation of ePrescribing/CPOE systems in hospitals were included. Quality assessment combined criteria from the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme Qualitative Checklist and the Standards for Reporting Qualitative Research guidelines. Data were synthesised thematically.Results79 articles were included. Stakeholders’ perspectives reflected a mixed set of positive and negative implications of engaging in ePrescribing/CPOE as part of their work. These were underpinned by further-reaching change processes. Impacts reported were largely practice related rather than at the organisational level. Factors affecting the implementation process and actions undertaken prior to implementation were perceived as important in understanding ePrescribing/CPOE adoption and impact.ConclusionsImplementing organisations and teams should consider the breadth and depth of changes that ePrescribing/CPOE adoption can trigger rather than focus on discrete benefits/problems and favour implementation strategies that: consider the preimplementation context, are responsive to (and transparent about) organisational and stakeholder needs and agendas and which can be sustained effectively over time as implementations develop and gradually transition to routine use and system optimisation.

scholarly journals Staff experiences of enhanced recovery after surgery: systematic review of qualitative studies

BMJ Open ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. e022259 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel Cohen ◽  
Rachael Gooberman-Hill
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Multidisciplinary Team ◽  
Enhanced Recovery ◽  
Enhanced Recovery After Surgery ◽  
Professional Staff ◽  
Qualitative Studies ◽  
Diverse Range ◽  
Qualitative Approaches ◽  
Wide Range

ObjectivesTo conduct a systematic review of qualitative studies which explore health professionals’ experiences of and perspectives on the enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) pathway.DesignSystematic review of qualitative literature using a qualitative content analysis. Literature includes the experiences and views of a wide range of multidisciplinary team and allied health professional staff, to incorporate a diverse range of clinical and professional perspectives.Data sourcesPsycINFO, Medline, CINAHL and PubMed were searched in May 2017.Eligibility criteria for selecting studiesThe searches included relevant qualitative studies across a range of healthcare contexts. We included studies published from 2000 to 2017, as an appropriate time frame to capture evidence about ERAS after implementation in the late 1990s. Only studies published in the English language were included, and we included studies that explicitly stated that they used qualitative approaches.Data extraction and synthesisLiterature searches were conducted by the first author and checked by the second author: both contributed to the extraction and analysis of data. Studies identified as relevant were assessed for eligibility using the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme guidance.ResultsEight studies were included in the review, including studies in six countries and in four surgical specialties. Included studies focus on health professionals’ experiences of ERAS before, during and after implementation in colorectal surgery, gastrointestinal surgery, abdominal hysterectomy and orthopaedics. Five main themes emerged in the analysis: communication and collaboration, resistance to change, role and significance of protocol-based care, and knowledge and expectations. Professionals described the importance of effective multidisciplinary team collaboration and communication, providing thorough education to staff and patients, and appointing a dedicated champion as means to implement and integrate ERAS pathways successfully. Evidence-based guidelines were thought to be useful for improvements to patient care by standardising practices and reducing treatment variations, but were thought to be too open to interpretation at local levels. Setting and managing ‘realistic’ expectations of staff was seen as a priority. Staff attitudes towards ERAS tend to become more favourable over time, as practices become successfully ‘normalised’. Strengths of the review are that it includes a wide range of different studies, a variety of clinical populations, diversity of methodological approaches and local contexts. Its limitation is the inclusion of a small number of studies, although these represent six countries and four surgical specialties, and so our findings are likely to be transferable.ConclusionsStaff feel positive about the implementation of ERAS, but find the process is complex and challenging. Challenges can be addressed by ensuring that multidisciplinary teams understand ERAS principles and guidelines, and communicate well with one another and with patients. Provision of comprehensive, coherent and locally relevant information to health professionals is helpful. Identifying and recruiting local ERAS champions is likely to improve the implementation and delivery of ERAS pathways.PROSPERO registration numberCRD42017059952

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