Qualitative research.

Abstract

A well thought out and conducted qualitative study provides a rich source of knowledge that can be used to provide new information about a phenomenon, promote insight and awareness of human experience and support the development of formal frameworks and tools (Kearney, 2001). At the most basic level, qualitative findings can encourage insight and empathy by raising nurses' awareness of "what it feels like to be in a given situation" (Kearney, 2001, p. 150). The study by Nagle (1998), for instance, draws nurses' attention to the disembodiment patients feel as they undergo hemodialysis and their struggle to develop a meaningful relationship with the technology they encounter on a daily basis. More formally, qualitative findings can also serve as the basis for assessment tools that allow nurses to compare the status of their patients with knowledge of a particular experience or illness trajectory (Kearney, 2001). For example, the grounded theory developed by Gregory et al. (1998) has served as the foundation for a quantitative measure of patients' perceptions of hemodialysis (Way, O'Brien, Gregory, Barrett, & Parfrey, 1999). This overview was intended to provide a general introduction to the main qualitative methods used in nursing research, and to briefly highlight some differences between qualitative and quantitative research. We hope that this review stimulates interest in qualitative approaches for nephrology nursing research.