Critical Appraisal Of Qualitative Research

Critical Appraisal

Qualitative Research Article M. Sofi Goerdt

University of Mary Introduction

Nursing research has been defined as a systematic inquiry to develop knowledge regarding issues of importance to nurses (Polit & Beck, 2017). Utilizing evidence-based practice, nurses are able to integrate research findings into clinical practice and clinical decisions (Polit & Beck, 2017). There are two paradigms that support nursing research: the positivist paradigm and the constructivist paradigm (Polit & Beck, 2017). The positivist paradigm is associated with quantitative research and utilizes scientific and statistical methods to gather and analyze evidence to affect nursing practice (Polit & Beck). Qualitative research, on the other

A good interviewer/researcher is one who is able to gain the trust of the study participants (Polit & Beck, 2017). It is imperative that the researcher/interviewer be a good listener and not offer advice or opinions (Polit & Beck, 2017). In the above study, there is no indication that the interviewers engaged in offering opinionated advice. Indeed, the researchers of the study explain that they adhered to established strategies in qualitative studies that address trustworthiness (Erikson & Davies, 2017). The researchers describe that they engaged in reflexivity, which involves self-reflection regarding one’s bias and preconceptions (Erikson & Davies, 2017; Polit & Beck, 2017). In addition, the researchers explored emerging themes and presented the values to three participants who affirmed the conceptualizations (Erikson & Davies, 2017). The self-awareness of the researchers allowed for trust to be established and for a decreased tendency towards

Researchers collect data, categorize and analyze them, discover emerging phenomena and repeat the process (Polit & Beck, 2017). In keeping with the grounded theory methodology, the researchers of the above study confirmed that data analysis commenced with the first interview and continued throughout data collection (Erikson & Davies, 2017). Data accuracy and completeness was assured until data saturation was achieved (Erikson & Davies, 2017). The researchers were thorough in their descriptions of the data analysis process as they explain how the data was coded and categorized. This process is explained in the section below. Through the descriptions offered by the researchers, the reader has an increased understanding of the complexity of analyzing data in a qualitative study. Additionally, the researchers provide a detailed explanation of how grounded theory was applied to data analysis in this study. The researchers of the study do not state if the data analysis was conducted manually or with a computer program. Computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software allows a researcher to enter the data and the software then codes the data, displays texts and examines relationships between the data (Polit & Beck, 2017). Despite this, the researcher must do the coding and analyze the data as the software does not have this capability (Polit