Abstracts,Poster Presentation for Qualitative Methods Conference,2018

Jacquelyn Benson, University of Missouri

Prior to engaging older participants in a qualitative study, researchers must give thoughtful consideration to the ways a number of age-related, developmental processes (e.g., changes in physical and cognitive function, social life, and emotionality) can impact certain research procedures, particularly those activities related to data collection and interviewing. Researchers must also be sensitive to the social, cultural, and historical milieu older adults have experienced, as they have profound influences on their beliefs about and attitudes toward participating in academic research. Drawing from the author’s own research experiences (i.e., “lessons learned”), and the relevant empirical and clinical literatures, the purpose of this presentation is to provide examples of and foster discussion on best practices for successfully engaging older adults in qualitative research. Strategies for building rapport and trust, the pros and cons of various interview styles and techniques, language use, environment, technology, and examples of tools that can help with data collection and “managing” the interview will be addressed.

Katrina Boutilier, University of Calgary

The definition of what constitutes a healthy weight has become debatable over recent years. In this study, discourses around healthy weight are explored in counseling psychology students at the University of Calgary. Three interpretive repertoires were found in this population: subjective/intuitive, objective/biological, and functional. Students who understood weight intuitively focused on how they felt in their body as a way of making sense of weight. In contrast, those who understood weight objectively focused on weight as a measurable construct, as well as the impact of human physiology on weight. Functional repertoires intersect with both of previous repertoires as the emphasis is on what an individual can, or is doing, in understanding healthy weight. Adhering to a particular repertoire may impact a new counselor’s effectiveness in counseling if this perspective is inconsistent with a client’s view of healthy weight. Therefore, counselors may need to adapt to a client’s construction of healthy weight or provide education if a client’s understanding of healthy weight inhibits progress in counseling.

Meaghan Brierley, Alberta Health Services

Renee Misfeldt, Alberta Health Services

Mahnoush Rostami, Alberta Health Services

Health-care providers have one of the highest rates of work-related injuries of any profession. Patient-handling programs focus on reducing musculoskeletal injuries that result from patient lifts, transfers, and repositioning. Previous literature outlines the complexity of implementing such programs and the importance of addressing multiple core components for program success. This article describes the use of realist evaluation to identify how, for whom, and in what context identified components contribute to the success of the program. This article further explores the challenges of communicating the results of evaluations of multicomponent interventions, and how realist evaluation can support the communication of complex results. This paper focuses on the interview data of a mixed methods study. We completed qualitative interviews (n = 100) with managers and frontline providers to test program theories. The analysis involved creating context–mechanism–outcome configurations developed from the data. Results reveal that equipment and training, while important components of the program, require the support of other components that are less obvious, underrepresented, and undertheorized. Eleven components acted synergistically: management commitment and support, organizational policy, equipment, training, regular assessment tools, resource staff, safety culture, unit communications, area design, human resource capacity, and customization. The results demonstrate that the success of patient-handling programs across diverse contexts requires complex support. Realist evaluation can help with this support by delving into the reasoning processes of participants, providing an opportunity to demonstrate how multiple components work, for whom, how, why, and under what circumstances.

Alysha Chan Kent, University of Calgary

Autoethnography is a qualitative method that allows the researcher to incorporate one’s professional and personal identities in order to share an aspect of their everyday experiences. Upon examining my experience of parental divorce, I discovered that my personal voice, one of a Chinese-Canadian woman, was excluded from the dominant discourse within the divorce literature. Due to the incongruence between the literature and my experiences, I was drawn to autoethnography as a method which would allow me to add a personal voice to the body of literature on divorce. This project did not unfold as expected. My journey through autoethnography led me to reengage with the emotional experience that originally inspired my research, shifting the focus to how autoethnography can be used as a transformative tool which reconnects researchers to the personal emotional experiences that initially motivated their interest in a specific topic; therefore, autoethnography can be used as a method to answer questions in which researchers must move from cognitive to emotional domains of experiencing. As autoethnography is an important but underused qualitative methodology, this study provides evidence for the utility of autoethnography in thickening the story line of an experience, and awakening and reinspiring one’s desire to explore research questions with a newfound passion.

Crystal Chen Lee, North Carolina State University

In an era of educational accountability, quantitative research has been highlighted as the way to measure students’ success and growth in U.S. schools. In light of this recent push, the value of qualitative studies has been lost in recent sociopolitical climates. However, this presentation speaks back to this dominant narrative through illustrating the powerful ways that qualitative educational research can inform school- and community-based relationships, policies, and, most importantly, social action. This 3-year qualitative case study examines how an African community-based organization, Sauti Yetu’s Girl’s Empowerment and Leadership Initiative, supports the literacy development of African immigrant girls who are identified as English Language Learners and students with interrupted formal education. In particular, the presentation focuses on the methods used to examine how community-based literacy practices mobilize African immigrant girls to strengthen their local and global communities. Over the course of 3 years, the researcher collected written documentation, semistructured individual and focus group interviews, and program observations to (a) identify how Sauti Yetu’s programming activities promotes critical literacy for academic support and to what ends and to (b) examine how Sauti Yetu facilitates social praxis in community-based practices. Overall, the study is significant because it addresses critical needs in light of the new wave of African immigration in U.S. schools and offers the possibilities of how qualitative methodology can highlight the merits of students’ strengths and involvement in their schools and communities.

Rachel E. Crooks, University of Calgary

Eric E. Smith, University of Calgary

Pamela M. Roach, University of Calgary

There is a shifting landscape in health research, moving from treating patients as subjects towards the inclusion of patient perspectives and codesign of research methods and practices. Registries are a clinical research tool with focused data collection on clinical information and specific disease measures where patients may not feel as though they are active participants. The Brain and Mental Health Research Clinics aims to implement registries across specialty neurology and psychiatry clinics in Calgary, Alberta. The initiative also seeks to include the patient perspective in registry development progresses. Six focus groups have been conducted with 48 participants addressing barriers and facilitators to registry participation, knowledge gaps, and knowledge translation. Focus group data have been used to inform the ongoing development and optimization of clinic registries as well as to increase patient engagement with and input into clinical registries. The results of the first two focus groups (barriers and facilitators to registry participation) reported here. Through thematic content analysis of two focus groups (with 18 participants), five barriers to registry participation were identified: access, consent, memory symptoms, privacy of information, and purposes of registries. Three facilitators were identified: incentives, altruism, and clinical benefit. Future directions using qualitative methods include usability testing of a registry-related website initiative and incorporation of patient representation into NMRCI working groups and committees. Another future aim is to further engage patients in their health-care decision-making via their own patient-reported outcomes regularly collected at clinic visits.

Rachel Crossdale, University of Leeds

There is no doubt that the methods used in social enquiry are perpetually in a state of evolution. This evolution is a product of constant negotiation between theory and social context. While changes in theoretical thought are well-documented in literature, it is the archives that guard the changes in practice. Each research project produces a vast amount of documentation in its making. What is kept, what is discarded, and what is publicized, along with changes to the content of these categories over time, are clues to how the nature of social enquiry has changed. Using quantitative research into unpaid care as an example, this presentation will demonstrate the researcher’s unique qualitative analysis of quantitative enquiry, using the content of the archive itself to establish the principles behind social enquiry. A critical look at which elements of a research project have been deemed worthy of archiving, and the decision-making process behind this, forges links with the social and theoretical context of the time. Starting with the beginning of the carer’s movement in the 1960s and moving forward to present day, this presentation will force delegates to engage introspectively with what we, as researchers, choose to keep or discard and what this means for our research both today and in the future.

Renee Crossman, University of Alberta

Jude Spiers, University of Alberta

Focused ethnography is an adaptation of ethnography that is particularly suited to the needs and characteristics of qualitative health research. In this approach, the researcher is part of the field being studied, and there is usually a focus on one ethnographic modality of data collection. The purpose of this presentation is to consider the philosophical, theoretical, and methodological implications of employing critical discourse analysis (CDA) as a theoretical lens in focused ethnography. CDA involves the exploration of taken-for-granted notions and assumptions regarding the phenomenon under study and specifically problematizes normative practices. Using my proposed doctoral research as an example, I will explore how both approaches complement each other in understanding how people with insulin pumps enact diabetes and the information sources they draw on within this enactment. The combination of ethnography and discourse analysis affords the researcher the dual focus on culture and language and potentially can illuminate the ways in which health-care providers provide support to people with diabetes based on normative assumptions and values. As a key health-care discipline in chronic care diabetes self-management support, it is imperative to employ a critical approach within diabetes nursing research to explore the influences on diabetes practices. Blending focused ethnography and critical discourse analysis provides an appropriate methodology for such exploration and is well suited to the discipline of nursing.

Meghan Crouch, University of Waterloo

Ellen MacEachen, University of Waterloo

Past occupational health and safety interventions as well as policy have often failed to recognize unique characteristics of small firms, despite constituting the majority of businesses in the Canadian private sector. With an increasing awareness of the financial costs as a result of lost productivity due to mental health (MH) issues in the workplace, the topic of MH has garnered much attention in the business context. It is unclear, however, how the social and structural organization of small businesses (SBs) is suited to address MH prevention and management and how owners and employees currently handle such issues. Employing critical discourse analysis methods, this research will investigate how SB owners and employees understand and address MH prevention and management in their particular work environments. In-depth interviews will be conducted, purposefully sampling SBs to unpack how MH is thought of and spoken about by employers and workers. This project will inform prevention and management strategies relevant for SBs, which are often overlooked in the research and policy initiatives concerning workplace health prevention and disability management. Further, by incorporating multiple standpoints in the organizational context, this knowledge will make novel contributions for addressing psychological health and safety in SBs. Access to, and recruitment of, small firms, as well as including multiple standpoints, adds complexity in conducting research within the SB landscape. As such, this research will not only contribute to workforce well-being, productivity, and social integration in the context of SBs but also highlight practical issues in studying SBs, worthy of consideration.

Patricia Dekeseredy, West Virginia University

Cara Sedney, West Virginia University

Treah Haggerty, West Virginia University

The modification of a readiness to change tool validated in Italy, for use in an Appalachian population, requires a high level of insight, understanding, and consideration of appropriate research methods. This project explores the benefit of engaging community stakeholders in qualitative research through focus groups to modify an existing validated tool. A pilot administration of the TReatment, Motivation, and REadiness test to a random sample of 235 patients at 16 family medicine clinics in West Virginia highlighted the need for revision. Our pilot test had a 61% completion rate and consistently low scores on areas such as “attending a health club or spa,” cycling, participating in sports for leisure, and wearing a swimsuit. Subsequently, the modified tool will be then be administered to a similar sample and evaluated for suitability. West Virginia is known to have one of the highest rates of obesity in the United States. Creating a relevant tool to identify people who are ready to make lifestyle changes towards a healthy weight allows clinicians to target interventions to these people. A researcher who identifies potential for a previously validated tool must consider the context and cultural differences in the population of interest. Can focus group research identify the language, priorities, and frame of understanding, unique to Appalachia? This project is guided by practice-based and community-engaged research approaches. This poster will illuminate the importance/feasibility of stakeholder focus group research for the modification of previously validated measures while taking into consideration group and cultural norms.

Michelle Dietert, Texas A&M University Central Texas

Interviewing vulnerable populations is nothing new for those social scientists who conduct qualitative research. Some of the barriers that researchers often confront deal specifically with recruitment. The researcher must be cognizant of participation risks involved when recruiting particular subpopulations. Therefore, not only is gaining the trust of the potential participant important but confidentiality procedures must also be addressed. This presentation will explore issues as they relate to the recruitment process of vulnerable populations. As an example, I will use my research on transgender active-duty personnel to illustrate the difficulties encountered in the recruitment process. This population is particularly vulnerable; since under current policy, the U.S. military can fire individuals due to their gender identity. In my research, this participation risk has been shown to negatively impact recruitment and sampling of transgender active-duty personnel. A methodological focus of this presentation will be to discuss how barriers can be reduced in order to reach vulnerable and often times hidden populations.

Brydne Edwards, University of Toronto

Debra Cameron, University of Toronto

Gillian King, Holland Bloorview Kid’s Rehabilitation Hospital

Amy C. McPherson, Holland Bloorview Kid’s Rehabilitation Hospital

Generic qualitative methodologies are beginning to take a more prominent role in qualitative health research. However, there are few studies exploring methodological and ethical considerations with implementing generic qualitative methodologies with child/youth participants. This can lead to a lack of research exploring children’s/youth’s perspectives about social phenomena that impact them, such as social inclusion. In this presentation, I draw on my doctoral dissertation that explored the meaning of social inclusion from the perspective of children/youth with and without disabilities to demonstrate how I navigated this knowledge gap. This presentation illustrates the unique methodological and ethical issues to be considered when conducting qualitative research with children/youth with and without disabilities in a recreation setting. I describe and justify my selection of recruitment, sampling, data collection, and analysis methods. In particular, I present how semistructured interviews and participant observation can be tailored so that children/youth who have cognitive, communication, and physical impairments can be included as research informants. Furthermore, I argue that generic qualitative methodologies are effective in enabling children and youth to participate meaningfully in qualitative health research and should be used to study topics that may influence their well-being.

Laeticia Egesi, University of Washington

Ira Kantrowitz-Gordon, University of Washington

Narrative inquiry uses life stories and experiences as narrated by the participants as data. Narrative inquiry operates at the boundaries of personal and social identity. These shared stories consciously and unconsciously show the meanings, main beliefs, and values of the time and place in which the storyteller lives. Narrative research requires the researcher to maintain relational responsibility and to portray comfort while engaging in active listening to intimate life stories. These requirements can be challenging if the narrative researcher is perceived to be an outsider by the participants or the cultural environment. Outsider status may also influence the nature and content of the story being told. Trust must be established between individuals for a personal and meaningful life experience to be shared freely and without bias. When a researcher is considered an outsider in the participant’s culture and the research context, the shared narrative might be incomplete, misunderstood, or represented differently. This will greatly affect the interpretation and meaning generation from the data. In this presentation, I will share strategies I used to transition from an outsider to an insider in a research study investigating grief after perinatal loss in Nigerian women in Nigeria. As a woman of Nigerian descent who lived outside of Nigeria, I navigated across different cultures to engage in the environment and conduct the narrative interviews. These experiences provide lessons in the ethical conduct of narrative inquiry across cultural differences which may translate to other research contexts.

Michelle M. Falter, North Carolina State University

In doing educational research, often the researchers’ interpretation of events trumps the participant’s voices. However, feminist research practices work to find balance and create reciprocity between the participants and researchers through varying methodological practices. Within this presentation, portraiture methodology and the listening guide voice-centered data analysis method will be discussed as a way to understand teacher positionality in relation to the role of emotion in the teaching of English within four high school classrooms. Both approaches work toward decentering the researcher by illuminating the voices of the participants. Portraiture allows for multiple voices and points of view to be acknowledged and used to create the aesthetic whole. Voice is both an important element of the product and an important element of the process of portraiture. The listening guide approach uses four steps: (1) listening for plot, (2) I-poems, (3) listening for contrapuntal voices, and (4) composing an analysis. The listening guide acts as a supplement to the portraiture methodological analysis because it not only examined the manner in which my participants spoke, wrote, and articulated their thoughts, but it also examines the multiplicity of voices in the teacher narratives, which helps to highlight the complexity of the inquiry being studied. The presentation will explore how these approaches helped to highlight the tensions within and of teacher positionality in relation to affective responses in secondary classroom spaces.

Fabienne Fasseur, University of Lausanne

Marie Santiago Delefosse, University of Lausanne

Mariana Vieira Epars, University of Lausanne

Within the field of health psychology, focus group consists in a powerful (and relatively underused) methodological instrument that gives to the researcher the opportunity to gather data economically on purpose and to dig into topics exploring people’s attitudes, beliefs, and emotions through the description of their lived experience. However, some difficulties can be encountered in practice. First, linked to the characteristics of the motivated participants, some may be too much expert on the phenomenon to let the other members of the group express themselves. Second, self-disclosure in sensitive contexts (e.g., chronic illnesses, obesity, HIV) may be restrained by the group dynamics. And finally, some participants developing social desirability biases may disengage others to speak and limit the quality of collected data. During the Swiss academic cursus in psychology, focus group is a relatively little taught instrument even though future psychologists will use it in their everyday practice whatever the context of activity will be situated. In this presentation, we will present an academic training for master’s students in psychology, using video recording to develop students’ abilities to deal with those difficulties. We will explore some communicational techniques to overcome the problems, using researchers’ personal background and developing a specific moderator training to promote good interaction practices in focus group.

Erin Flaherty, Boston College

Chronic disease conditions are the leading causes of death and disability in the United States, accounting for 7 of the top 10 causes of death in 2014. Four modifiable health-risk behaviors underlie chronic disease and lead to early death: lack of exercise or physical activity, poor nutrition, tobacco use, and excessive alcohol use. Despite requirements for active duty (AD) military to follow physical fitness standards and required utilization of the military health-care system during AD service in the United States, AD military engage in more health-risk behaviors compared to civilians, placing them at higher risk of chronic illness. The presentation will review the proposal for a qualitative descriptive study aimed at exploring the transition to retirement on AD military veterans to civilian life. A secondary aim is to describe the perception of health and health behavior and how this is incorporated into the transitioning veterans’ postmilitary lifestyle. The plan for enrollment includes purposive snowball sampling to recruit individuals who have experienced the phenomenon of retirement from AD during midlife. Data will be collected using a demographic form and semistructured, open-ended, qualitative interview guide currently under development via phone or web-based video communication. The analysis plan is to follow general methods of analytic inquiry outlined by Miles, Huberman, and Saldana, including the 13 tactics for ensuring data quality. These findings will provide a basis for health-care interventions to prevent chronic disease at the transition to retirement from AD military service.

Elisabeth Fortier, University of Regina

In everyday practice, nurses encounter moral dilemmas that can impact patients’ quality of care. A nurse exercising moral agency makes ethical decisions based on core values and moral principles. The relationship between a moral agent and the institution in which they practice has been labeled the most challenging moral problem of our century. Understanding moral agency in a bureaucratic system like health care is necessary to comprehend ethical issues and moral distress experienced by nurses. This study aims to explore moral agency among six nurses in health care with experience in various specialties. For this qualitative study, five registered nurses and one licensed practical nurse were recruited using purposive sampling and the snowball sampling technique. Participants were selected based on years of professional experience; in this study, nurses had 5–18 years of experience. Semistructured interviews were audio recorded and transcribed. Thematic content analysis was used to analyze data; words and phrases were coded and classified by meaning. This process allowed for the discovery of themes in the data. Findings suggest participants had an awareness of moral agency and demonstrated resilience in facing daily moral dilemmas at work. Moral agency appears limited in the health-care system because of hierarchy, “politics,” lack of time, and high workloads. This is significant as nurses may experience moral distress by juggling conflicting loyalties between patient care and health-care objectives such as productivity, efficiency, and effectiveness. This poster presentation further delves into the implications of moral agency on patient care and nurses’ well-being.

Fernanda Góes, University of Sáo Paulo

Deirdre Jackman, University of Alberta

The purpose of this literature review was to identify how high fidelity simulation (HFS) debriefing is conducted by nurse educators. An integrative literature review was conducted using the following the steps: (1) research problem, (2) data collection, (3) extraction, (4) critical evaluation, (5) data analysis, and (6) presentation and discussion of the results. The research question guiding the review was as follows: How does the educator/debriefer conduct HFS debriefing with graduate/undergraduate nursing students, including consideration of best pedagogical practice. Database sources included (a)Virtual Health Library, (b) CINAHL, (c) Scopus, (d) PubMed, and (e) Web of Science. The initial search yielded 220 studies, of which 31 primary studies were selected; 58% of the included studies were conducted in the United States, with 64.5% related to nursing students. It was apparent from the findings that a simulation debriefing process was conducted by faculty members in 16 (51.6%) of the studies, but formal pedagogical training criteria were absent. The results indicated that debriefing stimulated critical thinking, decision-making, and team work. The literature indicated that 23 teaching tools were used to guide the debriefing process. Videotape was found to be the major resource utilized to improve the debriefing experience. In conclusion, the results of this review indicate that HFS debriefing contributes to student learning. However, it is unclear how nurse educators are actually taught to apply best pedagogical practice. Additionally, no one debriefing tool focused on the plethora of learning modalities such as attitudinal, technical, and cognitive items. Future recommendations, therefore, would suggest the need for a more formal education for faculty regarding HFS learning to attain best pedagogical practice.

Sharon Hartley, St. John’s Research Institute

Maryann Washington, St. John’s Research Institute

In designing a curriculum that addresses personal and professional perceptions and competencies related to reproductive and sexual health (RSH) among health-care professionals, it is essential that data are collected at every stage of the process. The study in question seeks to introduce a training programme to help young nursing students become aware of their perceptions on RSH issues, develop a neutral attitude towards them, and build their skills to introspect and address personal and clientele RSH concerns effectively and without discrimination. Despite a structured questionnaire being administered before and after implementation of the programme, quantifying perceptions and attitudes may be challenging. Given the large sample size consisting of 856 first-year nursing students from eight institutes in Bangalore, a qualitative method that is semistructured and nonrestrictive in reaching out to all participants is imperative. Hence, data are collected in the form of questions from the students at the end of each workshop and follow-up session. Additionally, each participating institution has been given a question box under lock and key for students to insert related queries during the course of the semester. All these questions are entered into the database, coded, and analyzed thematically. The programme is then tailored at every follow-up visit to cater to the collective need of the students that will enhance knowledge, thereby influencing perception and attitude.

Charice Hayes

With multicase studies, a researcher’s goal is to understand a problem in-depth and comprehensively within its real-life context. A case study research design consists of in-depth interviews with the development of truthful open-ended discussions to ensure that responses yield data that reflect the participants’ experiences without bias along with observation and review of documents. With a study I conducted, I employed a multicase study approach to thoroughly understand online marketing strategies leaders of small traditional travel agencies have used to obtain and retain customers. This presentation will demonstrate how using multiple data collection methods allowed me to penetrate each case and cross-analyze data to find commonalities using a case study design.

Anna Horton, McGill University

The subject of accountability has become an increased focus of study for qualitative researchers. However, it may be considered that recent rapid reconstitutions in organizational, social, and interpersonal spheres have resulted in a loss of stability and certainty for accountability performance. As organizations compete to maintain their footing in a neoliberal milieu, actors must negotiate increasingly ambiguous scopes of responsibility and involvement across a range of social landscapes from workplace organization to education and health care. Current study of accountability might be considered methodologically underdeveloped in capturing the complexity of accountability performance as it moves between these multiple registers. Most research has tended to dichotomize between “formal” governance and “informal” everyday practices or between structural and psychological approaches. The epistemological and methodological complexities of actualizing study of accountability remain incoherent in the literature. This presentation seeks to explore relevant insights from anthropological methodology and epistemology for critical inquiry of accountability. The depth of the ethnographic method, reflexive practice, and anthropological epistemology is particularly suited to matching complexity with complexity in the study of accountability, as well as understanding the “accountability cultures” in which practices are embedded. I suggest that the experiences of anthropologists working in the field have much to offer in addressing the need for new methodological and theoretical tools to respond to unprecedented organizational change.

Andrea Johnson, The University of British Columbia

Grant Charles, The University of British Columbia

Hermeneutic phenomenology is a research methodology committed to the systematic examination of human understanding. It is a deeply interpretive methodology and has a significant historical legacy and tradition. For these reasons, hermeneutic phenomenology can often be difficult to articulate and feel somewhat elusive to researchers unfamiliar to this research approach. However, hermeneutic phenomenology can be a valuable research approach in health care. It demands researchers to consider a topic of inquiry from other vantage points or horizons, and it brings under scrutiny what is understood about a topic. This can be significant for topics that have become essentialized. This poster will explore the philosophical underpinning of hermeneutic phenomenology and how they translate to research methodology. Key central tenets of this methodology will be discussed. This methodology exploration will be within the context of a current study I am doing that is exploring the experiences of adolescents who have survived cancer. This poster will present the research design and preliminary analysis and findings of this study. The topic of adolescent cancer survivorship has become essentialized, and hermeneutic phenomenology offers different perspectives and a deeper understanding of this topic to develop.

Nadia Kobagi, University of Alberta

Minn Yoon, University of Alberta

Jude Spiers, University of Alberta

Community-dwelling individuals living with dementia (ILDs) progressively struggle to perform self-care activities such as daily oral hygiene and increasingly require support. The objective of this study was to explore oral care practices of ILD. Qualitative exploratory design using focus groups (FGs). Partnership with the Alzheimer’s Society facilitated the recruitment of participants. Nine ILD participants were recruited. FGs were guided by semistructured questions both verbally and written. Oral hygiene props were used to enrich discussion. Sessions lasted 90 min and were audio and video recorded. Data were transcribed, reviewed, and enhanced with descriptive details. Content analysis consisted of open coding, categorization, and abstraction. Oral props were using during the FG with the intention of stimulating memory. Video data revealed that ILD participants were curious to touch, feel, hold, and sometimes even use the prop to physically demonstrate oral care practices. This automatic response aligns with our theme of embodied habit, as participants were so familiar and comfortable with the tool they unconsciously wanted to perform toothbrushing publicly. ILD participants were cognizant that strategies for daily oral care had to change over time. However, caregivers and dental professionals assumed that oral care was being completed independently from start to finish. This misconception stems from the notion that habits such as oral care are so deeply engrained that even as the severity of dementia progresses, these habits prevail. Implications of this study are anticipatory guidance in educating caregivers and dental professionals around behavioral indicators as an ILD progresses through levels of independence.

Sarah Kooienga, University of Wyoming

Rebecca Carron, University of Wyoming

Fay W. Whiteny, University of Wyoming

Anna Felton, Lander Medical Clinic

In the United States, the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) program was developed to focus on expert practice and practice inquiry for nurse practitioners in a wide variety of settings. The DNP scholarly project is a culmination of 3 years of academic preparation and inquiry in the practice setting. The goal of DNP scholarly projects is practice change and quality improvement. We believe qualitative methodologies have a role in clinical-based practice inquiry, and there are several benefits to DNP students being exposed to qualitative methods during the DNP scholarly project process. Our poster presentation will explore one student’s DNP project—improving women’s health in a tribal community—as an example. A focus group was conducted with American Indian women regarding their experience with health care in several tribal clinics. The student was intimately involved in developing an interview guide, data collection, analysis, and subsequent member checking. Based on this experience, one benefit of the process was connecting the tasks of research and relating the research process to clinical practice improvement. Developing an interview guide and conducting a focus group help develop communication skills for practice. The participants were not viewed as exotic and different but as real women with real health-care needs that were not being addressed in the tribal health-care system.

Sanjay Kumar, University of Manitoba

Raj V. Manchanda, University of Manitoba

Pradeep Racherla, Aspiron Consultants

Big data (represents the information assets characterized by such a high volume, velocity, and variety to require specific technology and analytical methods for its transformation into value) has been used by firms to collect insights and implement real-time decisions based on those insights to generate value for the firm. Although there has been a proliferation of big data tools, the adoption of big data amongst firms has been relatively slow. Moreover, many firms face resistance from marketers and technologists to implement big data. There’s a call from industry and academia for further research in big data. Specifically, academic researchers call for research in big data to investigate “How big data could be theorized.” Identifying this research gap in big data, we follow the grounded theory approach to investigate the following: “How decision makers—marketing leaders and information leaders—interpret the meaning of big data.” Using news items published in relevant industry journals, we perform interpretive analysis to find answers for our research question. Our results show that existing legacy system—information technology infrastructure, limitations of big data tools, presence of information silos, and lack of cohesive collaboration between chief marketing officers and chief information officers—inhibits adoption of big data in firms.

Larkin Lamarche’, McMaster University

Quantitative researchers are taught to use surveys that are reliable and valid. It is not uncommon for quantitative surveys to be administered via an interview format. However, within the literature of psychometric properties of surveys, there is no recognition of the occurrence of when participants go against the Likert scale and choose to provide a qualitative response instead of, or in addition to, the number on the rating scale. It has been my experience during the administration of a survey that participants have a desire to qualify their ratings. Although capturing this type of data is typically not done, the occurrence of this type of information has happened frequently enough for me to ask how, and if, this qualitative information can be used. This study will explore the presence, as well as the added value, of such commentary from participants during the administration of a survey across several past research projects within older adult samples. Two specific surveys will be discussed: the Activities-Specific Balance Confidence Scale and the International Physical Activity Questionnaire. By using examples of participant quotations, paradigmatic tensions will be discussed, specifically both the researcher’s and participant’s epistemological rigidity. Scholars should be prepared to record (and not disregard) this type of data. Future research should explore the added value of qualitative data in quantitative research studies particularly in the understanding of complex behaviors such as physical activity and cognitions such as balance confidence.

Sylvie Lévesque, Université du Québec

Becoming a parent for the first time is a major life event that can have a significant impact on both the individual and the couple. Overall, the literature on early parenthood paints a rather grim picture of postnatal sexuality. In the context of varied family configurations and diversified trajectories leading to parenthood, it is relevant to focus on individual and dyadic experiences and perceptions related to sexuality. This presentation is part of a larger research project conducted in Montreal, Canada, in 2016–2017, focusing on transition to contemporary parenthood, based on the life-course approach and the intersectionality theory. Semi-directed dyadic interviews were conducted with 20 couples whose firstborn was aged between 6 and 15 months, followed by individual interviews with each parent. Data collection took place over several months, alternating between interviewing and analyzing, as per grounded theory. The preliminary findings posit that for the majority of parents encountered, contrary to many misconceptions, their postnatal sex life is not in itself a reason for dissatisfaction. The change in meaning and function attributed to sexuality during this “survival” period seems to be suitable for both parents. However, the social norms related to the frequency of sexual contacts is a source of questioning and discomfort, regardless of their level of satisfaction and conjugal well-being. Globally, these preliminary results allow us to shed light on the socially prescribed nature of dyadic sexuality.

Sylvie Lévesque, Université du Québec

Reproductive coercion (RC) refers to behaviors that interfere with contraception and birth planning and reduce female reproductive autonomy. Clinical-based American studies reveal that this form of violence is experienced by a high proportion of young women: Nearly, one in six women reports having suffered contraceptive sabotage (destruction, manipulation, or withdrawal of their contraceptive method), while one in five women reports having been coerced into the outcome of her pregnancy. With the aim of betting documenting this type of violence towards women, a two-part qualitative exploratory study was initiated in 2016 with Quebec women who have experienced one or more forms of RC in an intimate relationship, a nonemotional engagement, or a one-night relationship. In Phase 1, semistructured individual interviews were conducted with women aged 18–29, either in a face-to-face context or by Skype, using a process of alternation between data collection and analysis. Phase 2, based on photovoice techniques, will be deployed in the fall of 2018. In this communication, we will present the preliminary results of Phase 1. Data analysis makes it possible to distinguish two main trends: stealthing and coercive control of reproduction. These two issues generate distinct deleterious repercussions for the women who are the victims, who then manifest different support needs modulated by their experience(s). Drawing on these interviews, we also make the case that age, sexual orientation, and immigration status intersect to produce differential health and psychosocial outcomes for women. Interested audience members will be approached to help guide us on the avenues to explore in Phase 2.

Thuledi Makua, University of South Africa

Xolisile Fagudze, University of South Africa

The purpose of the study was to explore perceptions of the people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) towards using traditional medicines (TMs) together with antiretroviral therapy (ART). The study was conducted in two ART health facilities in the Manzini Region in Swaziland. Audiotaped individual interviews were conducted to collect data. The study population was PLWHA using TM and ART and were aged 18–49 years. Qualitative exploratory design used. One grand tour question was used, and follow-up probing questions were asked dependent on participant responses and study objectives. Voice recording was used to capture data during the in-depth interviews until saturation was reached. Findings of the study revealed that PLWHA were still searching for a cure, and the preexistence of TM prior to ART is influencing them to combine TM and ART. Several reasons for combining the two treatment modalities were to boost the immune system, enhancing appetite, and to treat opportunistic infections and ART side effects. There was stigma associated with long-life ART and discrimination for using TM experienced by PLWHA. The findings showed that PLWHA acknowledge that ART can help to improve their quality of life. However, it so happen that the preexistence of TM makes it difficult to detach from TM after ART initiation; hence, they are aware that there are consequences when ART taken with TM concurrently.

Carole Mayer, Northeast Cancer Centre

Mark Collins, Northeast Cancer Centre

Silvana Spadafora, Sault Area Hospital

Patients in Northeast Ontario receiving cancer treatment closer to home are screened for distress to improve symptom management as part of a person-centred cancer care approach. Screening for distress is a rapid method to prospectively identify patients who may experience significant difficulty to cope and adapt to their diagnosis and treatments of cancer due to high symptom burden. Patients complete the Edmonton Symptom Assessment System–Revised Scale, the Patient Reported Functional Status, and Canadian Problem Checklist. There are 9 of the 13 eligible hospitals participating in the study with some of the sites located in remote and rural communities. The purpose of this mixed-methods research project is to understand cancer patients’ experiences with distress when completing patient-reported outcomes measures (PROMs) as part of a distress screening program and understand how they manage symptoms of distress. Clinicians are also being asked about their attitudes and experiences of working with the PROMs and responding to patients’ symptom scores. The study has received ethical approval from all participating sites. This is a mixed-method scientific study where quantitative data (surveys n = 590) and qualitative data (interviews n = 40–60) are being collected. Qualitative data obtained through the surveys and structured interviews will be analyzed applying grounded theory and using NVIVO software to organize and code the data. SPSS software will be used for statistical data analysis obtained from the surveys. Results of this study will be used to improve the service delivery for symptom management in Northeast Ontario.

John D. McLennan, Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario

The pressure of short time lines to complete research projects can compromise the ability to systematically and reflectively learn from initial and successive qualitative data collection and analysis which ideally informs subsequent data collection and analysis. Within a longitudinal (5 years) study of child health in a low-income community in the Dominican Republic, we embedded a series of focus groups over time to explore factors influencing infant feeding, in particular the local practice of extensive early complementary feeding. The long-term aspect of the larger study allows ample opportunity to schedule several serial focus groups spaced over time to be informed by findings from preceding focus groups. The long time period also provides opportunity to improve the quality of the focus group process over time, which has been important, given the use of novice focus group facilitators in the field. The extended period also allows new cohorts of eligible mothers (eligibility based on having an infant less than 6 months of age) to be regularly recruited over time to incorporate new voices in subsequent focus groups. This approach, however, is not without its challenges including periodic loss of momentum and distraction by other research activities, given the lack of time pressure.

John Mildred, University of Calabar

Patience Samson-Akpan, University of Calabar

Mary Mgbekem, University of Calabar

Storytelling is often regarded as a method of handing down traditions and culture from one generation to another. It is however often regarded as an inferior research method and therefore rarely used in nursing research. Using storytelling, we explored the lived experiences of nurses in HIV care. The method focuses on the experiential perspectives of stories and accesses a richness of data that interview methods may lack. However, the researcher may have difficulty deciding at the onset whether to do a narrative analysis to identify themes in the stories or do a story analysis and present individual stories with all its parts. This may necessitate modification in the methodology to incorporate explanation to the exploratory design and utilize both narrative and interpretive analytic techniques. Modifications to the process should however preserve the basic nature of storytelling. These methodological challenges may hinder its use by many. The way the story is told is crucial for understanding experiences and behaviors. Some participants may not be experienced in storytelling and therefore present anecdotes rather than full stories with beginning, middle part, and ending. Moreover, the researcher requires adequate sensitivity to deal with the strong emotions that may be evoked during storytelling on certain topics. Despite the flexibility of the method, there are no guidelines for dealing with the emotions involved in the stories. This necessitates reservations in its use for studying certain phenomena.

Sharon Moore, University of British Columbia

Mariko Sakamoto¹, Carol Henckel, Tudor Manor

Concomitant with the trend of an aging population is an increase in persons living with dementia. As the number of people with dementia increases, there is also a rise in the number of individuals experiencing behavioral and psychological symptoms associated with dementia (BPSD). Many older adults living with dementia reside in nursing homes and BPSD not only create challenges for staff and family in managing care but are also disruptive to other care home residents. While nonpharmacological interventions are preferred over pharmacological approaches, it is not uncommon for BPSD to be treated with medications such as antipsychotics. Clearly, there is a need to find nonpharmacological interventions that help to preserve the dignity and respect of those living with dementia, as well as reduce the impact of challenging and disruptive dementia behaviours. Individuals living with dementia are often not considered capable of giving consent to participate in research, yet their voices need to be heard. We recently completed a study that explored the use of touch quilts (small textured blankets) purported to calm and comfort individuals living with dementia. We will highlight some of the ethical challenges that occurred during the study processes and propose strategies for consideration in designing research studies with this vulnerable population.

Sandhya Mylabathula, University of Toronto

Lynda Mainwarin, University of Toronto

Doug Richards, University of Toronto

Michael Hutchison, University of Toronto

Angela Colantonio, University of Toronto

Thematic analysis is used in many ways, which can both facilitate various types of research and be a barrier to comparing the methods across studies or understanding its application as a beginner qualitative researcher. Braun and Clarke (2016) present a broadly applicable step-by-step guide to using thematic analysis. Using the example of research conducted in a concussion study on barriers and facilitators during the recovery experience, this presentation provides an overview of data collection through semistructured interviews and the application of the step-by-step guide on thematic analysis in practice, with a variation. This presentation will also discuss some of the issues that arose during both data collection and analysis.

Reference

Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3, 77–101.

Emmah Ncube, Zulekha Hospital Group

Transnational nurse migration has evoked a growing interest in the phenomenon of professional integration of expatriate nurses into their host societies. Despite research connecting employee and organizational outcomes such as job satisfaction and organizational citizenship behavior to the quality of leadership styles, there remains a lack of research linking professional integration of expatriate nurses to nurse leadership styles in the UAE. The purpose of this grounded theory study was to develop a theory that would explain how nurse leadership styles and behaviors impacted the professional integration of expatriate nurses into the multicultural work environment of the UAE. The research questions addressed the perceptions of the expatriate nurses on effective leadership styles and behaviors of nurse leaders in a culturally diverse work environment, the lived experiences of the expatriate nurses, and the impact of the organizational culture on the process of integration. Data were collected through in-depth semistructured interviews with 10 expatriate nurses, demographic surveys, documents review, and researcher memos. Data were analyzed using the constant comparative method and initial, focused, axial, and theoretical coding. Results indicated that nurse leadership styles and the conditions surrounding the integration process influenced the success of the expatriate nurses’ adaptation, integration, and assimilation into the host society. Implications for social change include the preparation of nurses while in their home country on what to expect in the host country and development of leadership training programs to prepare nurse leaders for leading in a culturally diverse work environment.

Elizabeth Orr, McMaster University

Susan Jack, McMaster University

Wendy Sword, University of Ottawa

Sandra Ireland, St. Joseph’s Healthcare

Lois Ostolosky, Private Practice

The recent proliferation of blogs, including the breadth of subject matter covered in blogs and the variety of individuals engaging in the practice of blogging, has attracted the attention of health researchers. Specifically, blogs are being recognized as a rich source of qualitative data that provides insight into the everyday experiences of human beings. A number of advantages of using blogs as a data source for qualitative research exist including: they are publically available on the Internet; they are a low-cost and instantaneous technique for collecting substantial amounts of data; they are a source of naturally occurring text, eliminating both researcher interference or influence and the need for transcription; and they often provide candid and genuine personal accounts of human experiences. However, there exists in the literature a wide diversity of opinion on appropriate approaches to ethical standards in Internet research. This poster will outline the various approaches to ethical conduct when blogs are used as a qualitative data source in health research. This poster will also highlight one researcher’s approach to the ethical treatment of blog data during the qualitative discourse analysis of women’s blogs about infertility and in vitro fertilization; specifically, the creation of a decision tree utilizing an assessment of a blogger’s privacy intention leading to a stratified informed consent process. This approach to the ethical treatment of blog data resulted in both a respect for persons and justice for research participants.

Sohyun Park, Florida State University

Preschool is an important environment that may influence a child’s health, including obesity. Only a few studies have explored the experiences of caregivers in relation to obesity prevention in preschool settings. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the perceptions, opinions, and practices demonstrated by childcare providers when attempting to promote healthy eating and physical activity practices among preschoolers. Four focus group interviews were conducted with a total of 16 childcare providers (directors, teachers, and staff) in northwest Florida. A semistructured focus group guide was used. Discussions were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using ATLAS.ti software. Content analysis indicated that childcare providers made efforts to shape children’s healthy eating habits and encourage physical activity engagement. The strategies they used to promote healthy eating for children include providing healthy snacks, monitoring the quality of the children’s food, encouraging children to try new/healthy food, being a role model, and communicating with parents regarding a healthy diet. Childcare providers incorporated physical activity into the curriculum and used diverse learning methods to promote the children’s physical activity practices. Childcare providers encountered challenges when introducing new/healthy food to picky children, communicating with stubborn parents regarding healthy food choices, and educating parents about limiting children’s screen time at home. They wished for more training regarding nutrition and physical activity and suggested developing programs that involved parents. The findings of this study will help to guide such intervention programs to promote children’s nutrition and physical activity and shape a healthy environment for preschool children.

Teresa Paslawski, University of Alberta

Hope Bilinski, University of Alberta

Cassidy Fleming, University of Saskatchewan

Courtney Carlberg, University of Alberta

Tracie Risling, University of Saskatchewan

The complexity of the health context of the 21st century demands health-care teams that are competent collaborative practitioners. By extension, students must be educated in a manner that provides them the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to be effective collaborative health professionals. As a result, the practice of interprofessional collaboration or interdisciplinary work has become a common feature of educational programs for health sciences students. Educating individuals to work collaboratively requires an understanding of the foundation on which we are building—the starting point from which knowledge and skills develop. Despite recognition that attitudes can influence behavior, little attention is paid in the literature to the impact of attitudes on collaboration during preservice education. Discussions of the barriers to collaboration generally assume that members of a collaborative endeavor want to collaborate. Our study used a new approach to qualitative data collection to focus on an under-researched area in Interprofessional Collaboration (IPC): negative attitudes and beliefs that preservice students bring to IPC. Qualitative data were collected from approximately 130 students in professional training programs at two Canadian universities. This presentation will focus on the findings related to this novel approach to qualitative data collection. We will provide an overview of the approach to data collection, the efficiency and effectiveness of the method, and the strengths and challenges encountered throughout the process. Our experience using this qualitative data collection method to explore a potentially sensitive topic is anticipated to have application across a wide range of research areas.

Sandy Phillips-Long, Clemson University School of Nursing

Jane M. DeLuca, Clemson University School of Nursing

The method of autoethnography encourages subjective explorations, allowing a participant family member to function as the researcher while facilitating access to the family’s cultural understanding of an illness. By studying one family’s beliefs about potentially fatal reactions from insect venoms, we uncovered an inheritance pattern for a distinctive familial phenotype. We explored familial understandings of this inheritance pattern, and how it is deeply rooted within the family ethos where there are shared vulnerabilities embedded in everyday living. Viewed from both the outside and the inside, a family’s experience offers the potential to expand understanding and correct misperceptions of an illness phenomenon. This particular study offers new directions for future researchers seeking a qualitative approach to genetic studies, leading to the recognition of genetic susceptibility to illness and potential improvements in the prevention of disease symptoms.

Barbara Pickering, University of Calgary

Community-based research is meant to instigate change, be collaborative, and flatten power hierarchies that are inherent in more conventional research methodologies. Is this idealistic or is it possible these approaches can be enacted in ways that participants can attest to the method’s aspirational goals. In this presentation, delegates will have a chance to hear how participants experienced working alongside an academic. This study was concerned with the stories of people who had a childhood experience of parental incarceration. It may be surprising to know that Canada keeps no consistent records regarding children of incarcerated parents. No one asks how many are affected, who is caring for the children, what are their ages or special needs, or what contact information of caregivers or relatives is available? According to government, these children are invisible. Quantitative methods have traditionally been used to investigate the consequences of parental incarceration. However, this type of methodology has led scholars to view these children as only damaged and at risk. The use of this methodology is meant to disturb the current view of children of incarcerated parents and provide a platform for those whose voice has yet been unheard.

Anne Pousette, University of Liverpool

Jane Earland, University of Liverpool

The role of qualitative inquiry is essential to understanding the perceptions of stakeholders and multi-sectoral roles for achieving public health goals. Health research is frequently critiqued for the research to practice gap, and methods of analysis and knowledge dissemination that are relevant to knowledge users are important. It is important to consider knowledge synthesis and dissemination in the research design and research process. This presentation will describe how results inductively derived from transcribed interview data using thematic analysis suggest multiple sites for action in relation to healthy ageing. Situating the themes and subthemes within the World Health Organization framework for healthy ageing provides a perspective from which to view knowledge synthesis and dissemination and a mechanism to identify knowledge users and contexts. The framework perspective informs next steps, where collaborative work with research users and stakeholders will clarify actions, roles, and future research questions in relation to knowledge translation that will contribute to closing the gap between research and practice.

Cynthia Robins, Westat

Darby Steiger, Westat Ryan Whorton, ETS

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is a federal survey of student achievement at Grades 4, 8, and 12 in mathematics, reading, civics, and other subjects. For analytic purposes, the survey must capture youth socioeconomic status (SES), which is obtained by asking students questions about their household composition. Current household items assume students live in nuclear families, however, and are likely inadequate for students whose living arrangements are more complex (e.g., shared custody). The goal of this study was to conduct formative research towards the development of more inclusive household composition questions. Focus groups were held with 4th-, 8th-, and 12th-grade youth from an array of household types. All youth were asked to complete a sociogram—a pictorial representation—of each household where they live at least some of the time. After identifying themselves, other youth, and the adults in each of their households, youth were asked to identify not their parents but the adults who are responsible for taking care of you. Because these caregivers may be more accurate predictors of youth SES, participants were asked what they knew about these adults, educational backgrounds, and work status. In this presentation, we will demonstrate our structured approach to the sociogram activity, describe how participants in different grade levels responded to the activity, and, finally, discuss how these social representations have contributed to NAEP question revisions.

Mariko Sakamoto, University of British Columbia

Dementia is a growing global and societal concern, particularly in our hospital systems. It is becoming increasingly common for hospitalized patients both to be older adults and to be living with dementia. Our hospitals are poorly set up to meet the complex needs of patients living with dementia. This is particularly the case for dementia patients who have been designated alternate level of care (ALC). Hospitalized patients are designated ALC when they continue to occupy a hospital bed but no longer require acute care services, and this often occurs in patients with complex conditions such as dementia. Overall, ALC patients with dementia can end up staying in hospital for many months waiting for a residential care bed. There is little research that has examined the subjective experiences of this vulnerable group of hospitalized patients, which is significant as dementia patients who experience long hospitalizations are at risk of higher rates of mortality and increased functional decline. This presentation will draw from my nursing doctor of philosophy dissertation work, specifically my research proposal, which proposes utilizing interpretive description (ID) to examine the care experiences of ALC patients with dementia. Overall, this presentation will explore the complexities and challenges of involving patients with fairly advanced dementia in the research process. It will also discuss ID as a methodological orientation well suited for disciplinary settings and the development of applied knowledge, as well as how it can be best utilized within the context of this proposed work.

Crystal Shannon, University of British Columbia Okanagan

Lise Olsen, University of British Columbia Okanagan

Rachelle Hole, University of British Columbia Okanagan

Kathy Rush, University of British Columbia Okanagan

Participation in recreational physical activity by children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is important for improving their health, fitness, and quality of life. However, these children and their families experience challenges and barriers to participation at multiple levels, and these may be greater for families living rurally. The purpose of this master’s thesis is to develop understanding about factors influencing how families can promote safe, active recreation for children living with ASD and how communities of varied size can provide supportive and inclusive environments. The study is taking place in British Columbia’s Okanagan region. In-depth individual interviews will be conducted with parents in both larger and smaller, more remote communities related to safe recreational needs, barriers, and supports for children living with ASD. Analysis will utilize interpretive description (ID) methodology that will acknowledge multiple realities and truths in a holistic fashion. This approach will allow the researcher to bring experiential knowledge to the forefront to critically analyze the subjective patterned aspects of parents’ experiences across varied community settings. Interview data will be coded, and themes generated by means of inductive reasoning. Concepts of safety, risks, stigma, and inclusion will be explored with consideration of how these vary across communities. The contextual understanding created will have potential to inform program planning and policy decisions and support more inclusive opportunities to aid families’ activity participation and foster healthy child development.

Neale Smith, Providence Healthcare

Claude Bartholomew, Providence Healthcare

Successful recruitment of participants is the foundation for any research or evaluation project addressing the impacts of human service programs. In this presentation, we will describe recruitment challenges encountered in a qualitative evaluation of the Be Involved program and our efforts to respond to these. Be Involved is an industry-sponsored program administered through Shoppers Drug Mart community health with a target population of individuals with a bleeding disorder who cannot self-infuse or reside in remote areas that lack specialized nursing services. Two recruitment issues facing this evaluation were (1) identifying eligible participants and (2) explaining the study to prospective respondents. For the first part, relatively few people have ever accessed the Be Involved program, and the enrolment process did not allow for participant information to be shared for the purpose of this evaluation. Thus, the research team sequentially pursued a number of electronic and in-person recruitment strategies, which we describe here. In the second part, the Be Involved brand name proved to spark limited awareness or recall. Some potential participants who responded to recruitment efforts using that tag had to be excluded once their experience as related during the interview process was assessed. Different iterations of recruitment materials and personal contacts were subsequently pursued. In conclusion, this presentation will describe our evolving responses to these evaluation challenges and invites discussion about how to obtain evaluation data in circumstances where the population of interest is small, widely distributed, and has relatively little investment in the program being evaluated.

Shannon St. Pierre, University of Calgary

To understand how counseling psychology students share their experiences of being immersed in Indigenous pedagogy to learn about culture-infused counseling, a narrative approach to research was employed. Six students who participated in a culture-infused counseling class with an Indigenous pedagogy were asked to share brief anecdotes of their experiences in class as it related to the pedagogy that was employed. Following a narrative analysis method, hermeneutic circles of exploration were used to identify themes of experience in the data. In this way, both top-down and bottom-up interpretive procedures were used, moving back and forth between the raw narratives and the generalized themes to check for coherence between them. Themes were shared with and approved by the participants involved as a way of ensuring that the results honoured their experiences. To analyze anecdotes of experience using a narrative approach, focus was on content, sequencing and progression of themes, and their transformation and resolution. All of the narratives provided by each of the six participants were sequenced as stories of positive discovery regarding Indigenous pedagogy. It was interpreted that the participants experienced that the Indigenous pedagogy provided opportunity for empowerment, connection with others; connection with body, nature, and spirit; facilitation of learning; and newfound value in Indigenous ways of being, doing, and knowing. The findings indicate that participants experienced largely positive discoveries over the duration of their course. Academic leaders in the field of counseling psychology may benefit their students’ learning by implementing Indigenous pedagogy to teach culture-infused counselling.

Tina Strudsholm, University of Northern British Columbia

Lynn Meadows, University of Calgary

Jose Pereira, Pallium Canada

In an era of large qualitative data sets, it is imperative to clarify how qualitative analysis can contribute to the understanding of large databases and to choose analytical strategies with this in mind. Using the example from a longitudinal quality improvement study of palliative care continuing education courses (n = 4,000), we discuss the strategies applied to efficiently and meaningfully manage, organize, and analyze the data. In particular, we will address how to keep the purpose of the analysis at the fore so as to support appropriate and rigourous qualitative analysis and also meet practical and applied goals as required by stakeholders. We will share how to respond to the pressure to standardize and generalize data in order to expedite coding in such a way as to not lose the nuances found in the data. We will discuss how to mitigate the risks associated with quantifying qualitative data including the risk of equating “significance” with frequency as well as the risk of overlooking the “outliers” as they contribute to the breadth and depth of understanding. Our examples will illustrate how qualitative researchers can respond to the pressures associated with managing large data sets and apply strategies that can support the insight, depth, and breadth of understanding characteristic of qualitative research.

Emily Summers, Texas State University

M. Krou, Texas State University

This presentation details a methodological, content-oriented, and ethical professional growth process for emerging qualitative researchers utilizing autoethnography and critical theory frameworks in constructivist, real-world oriented, and responsive ways. We integrated learning critical theory with methodology in the form of hermeneutically coauthored vignettes. The process proved to be highly successful, resulting in an authentic community of learners’ goal of creating a research manuscript to be submitted for publication. At first, we questioned layering theory acquisition with autoethnographic storytelling and methodology; however, over the span of a year, we saw that real-world methodological uses of stories deepened emerging researchers’ methodological and ethical understandings. The process of developing a publication proved more authentic and resulted in deeper methodological learning than our prior and more traditional approaches to teaching researcher ethics.