Using diaries to explore midwives' experiences in intrapartum care: an evaluation of the method in a phenomenological study.

AIM: finding appropriate ways of obtaining contemporaneous data in acute settings is an ethical and practical dilemma for researchers. Our aim was to evaluate the use of diaries by midwives in a research study informed by a phenomenological approach. SETTING AND SAMPLE: a purposive sample of 12 midwives working across three Trusts in the North West of England.
METHOD: a phenomenological approach was used to guide a study exploring midwives views of confidence when providing intrapartum care. Two methods of data collection were used; diaries and semi-structured interviews. This is a methodological paper reporting on the usefulness of diaries used with participants who were health professionals in a health-care setting.
RESULTS: participants completing qualitative diaries provided rich data, recording not only a description of events but also their emotional response to such events. A high degree of self-reflection and analysis was also evident. The participants provided contextual and time situated data although remaining focused on the phenomena being explored. Furthermore, the diaries highlighted the data that may not have been uncovered by interview alone.
CONCLUSION: use of diaries for qualitative data collection is feasible and well received by health professionals. Individuals completing diaries were engaged in a reflective process enabling them to address significant events. Hence, diaries may provide benefits to both the researcher and the participant. They proved appropriate to a study requiring an exploration of the lived experience of the participants. Researchers conducting research informed by a phenomenological perspective should consider diaries as a valuable data collection tool.