Present tense commentary: a qualitative research technique.

Abstract

This paper describes Present Tense Commentary (PTC) as a technique to gather rich data which satisfies the requirements of a hermeneutic phenomenological approach to research. Using PTC, the informant is encouraged to relieve significant events by conveying them to the researcher as if they are happening now. This process demands greater cognitive ability, greater exposure to the event and more thorough grammatical correctness than in a standard interview situation. The reward, however, is insight for the informant and the researcher into the meaning and understanding, otherwise concealed within the experience. PTC was used as the third phase of data collection in a study involving eight student nurses undertaking the Diploma in Higher Education, Nursing Studies Course (Project 2000). The intention of the study is to illuminate the student's development and their socialization into nursing and to portray the total learning milieu for the students as they describe it. The technique has enabled the students to record experiences in clinical practice, reflect upon them and identify their own development during the course. PTC contrasts with traditional interview methods because it empowers the informant and addresses their agenda and not the researcher's. This paper gives a brief rationale for selecting PTC and describes the process of preparing informants and conducting the technique. The paper focuses upon issues related to philosophical and ethical considerations and recommends that the technique is recognized as a valuable phenomenological tool.