International Journal of Qualitative Methods

This research/performance text emerged from a study involving internationally educated female teachers who have immigrated to Atlantic Canada. The text features the words and artwork of the research participants as well as excerpts from newspapers, academic writing, and documents about immigration in Nova Scotia juxtaposed so as to foreground the complexity of the women's immigration and integration experiences. Introductory comments provide contextual information about the research project, the participants, and the evolution of, as well as rationale for, the text as performance piece.

How can memory work be used as a pathway to reflect on the situatedness of the researcher and field of inquiry? The key aim of this article is to contribute to knowledge about the gendering of space developed by feminist geographers by using memory work as a reflexive research method. The authors present a brief review of feminist literature that covers the local and global symbolic meanings of spaces and the power relations within which space is experienced. From the literature they interpret themes of the interconnections between space, place, and time; sexualization of public space; and the bodily praxis of using space. Memories of gendered bodies and landscapes, movement and restricted space, and the disrupting of space allow the exploration of conceptualizations within the literature as active, situated, fragmented, and contextualized.

Mammography screening has traditionally been viewed as a field for medical research. The medical science discourse, however, is highly quantitative, and its claims for validity somewhat opposed to those of qualitative research. To communicate research in a cross-disciplinary field, it is necessary to adapt one's research to several paradigms. The authors conducted focus group interviews with women due to be screened in a national breast cancer screening program. Their prospective design, both strategic and random sampling, and free discussions during focus groups are all questions of satisfying a medical science discourse in the frames of qualitative research. Focus group research showed itself adaptable through the data collection phase in a cross-disciplinary research project on mammography screening.

In this paper the authors propose Roland Barthes's analytical method, which appears in his classic work S/Z (1974), as a new way of analyzing personal stories. The five codes that are described in the book are linked to the domains of poetics, language, and culture, and expose facets that are embedded in the deep structure of narratives. These codes are helpful in revealing findings with regard to the development of the professional careers of teacher educators.

The study of errors in the health system today is a topic of considerable interest aimed at reducing errors through analysis of the phenomenon and the conclusions reached. Errors that occur frequently among health professionals have also been observed among nursing students. True, in most cases they are actually “near errors,” but these could be a future indicator of therapeutic reality and the effect of nurses' work environment on their personal performance. There are two different approaches to such errors: (a) The EPP (error prone person) approach lays full responsibility at the door of the individual involved in the error, whether a student, nurse, doctor, or pharmacist. According to this approach, handling consists purely in identifying and penalizing the guilty party. (b) The EPE (error prone environment) approach emphasizes the environment as a primary contributory factor to errors. The environment as an abstract concept includes components and processes of interpersonal communications, work relations, human engineering, workload, pressures, technical apparatus, and new technologies. The objective of the present study was to examine the role played by factors in and components of personal performance as compared to elements and features of the environment. The study was based on both of the aforementioned approaches, which, when combined, enable a comprehensive understanding of the phenomenon of errors among the student population as well as a comparison of factors contributing to human error and to error deriving from the environment. The theoretical basis of the study was a model that combined both approaches: one focusing on the individual and his or her personal performance and the other focusing on the work environment. The findings emphasize the work environment of health professionals as an EPE. However, errors could have been avoided by means of strict adherence to practical procedures. The authors examined error events in the administration of medication by nursing students during 1999–2006 using narrative analysis and the qualitative triangulation method. The findings result in a recommendation to reconsider the mode of approaching errors in educational processes, the handling of errors in the clinical field, and improvement of the safety climate.

Explaining the decisions taken in the methodological development of a study ensures rigor in the process of qualitative research. However, few researchers are concerned about outlining the reasons for their methodological strategy selection and the results obtained. A study on chronic illness care in a transnational community is an example where traveling down the methodological path took a different turn than originally intended. In this study the author explains why it was necessary to adopt methodological strategies, keeping in mind the concepts of reflexivity and flexibility. Additionally, several implications are raised in the design due to the transnational characteristic of the community and its members.

Explicar las decisiones que se toman en el desarrollo metodológico de un estudio garantiza el rigor del proceso de investigación cualitativa. Sin embargo, son pocos los investigadores preocupados por exponer las razones de selección de las estrategias metodológicas y los resultados obtenidos. En una investigación sobre la atención a un padecimiento crónico en una comunidad transnacional, el camino metodológico tomó un camino diferente al planteado en su inicio. En este trabajo se explican las razones por las que fue necesario adaptar estrategias metodológicas, reconociendo dos conceptos: reflexividad y flexibilidad. Se plantean además, algunas implicaciones en el diseño por la característica transnacional de la comunidad y sus miembros.

In a 2005 interview with doctoral and postdoctoral students Arthur W. Frank discusses a variety of topics related to qualitative research, such as methodology, narrative, power, rigor, and the peer review process. He reflects on his own work and the artists, philosophers and sociologists who have influenced him. He provides a selective history of research in the social sciences and discusses changes in health care and the practice of medicine.

In this article the authors outline an innovative way of using sticky notes, such as Post-its, within focus groups to help facilitators stimulate discussion, draw out reluctant participants, structure information, and help produce a group outcome that all members feel they own. They outline how sticky notes can be used to generate information, check for understanding, and group and sort ideas.