H Lefèvre1, M R Moro2, J Lachal2. 1. Maison de Solenn, hôpital Cochin, AP-HP, 97, boulevard de Port Royal, 75014 Paris, France; UVSQ, Inserm, CESP, faculté de médecine, université Paris-Sud, université Paris-Saclay, 94805 Villejuif, France; French Clinical Research Group in Adolescent Medicine and Health, 75014 Paris, France. Electronic address: herve.lefevre@aphp.fr. 2. Maison de Solenn, hôpital Cochin, AP-HP, 97, boulevard de Port Royal, 75014 Paris, France; UVSQ, Inserm, CESP, faculté de médecine, université Paris-Sud, université Paris-Saclay, 94805 Villejuif, France; Université Paris-Descartes, Sorbonne-Paris-Cité, 75005 Paris, France.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The vast majority of publications about adolescent healthcare use a quantitative methodology that often involves long and expensive research protocols with results that do not always provide answers adequate to the complexity of the questions being asked. The qualitative method is sometimes a more effective alternative for exploring some of these. This method can be defined from its objective, which is to generate theoretical hypotheses, its mandatory consideration of the researcher's subjectivity, and the importance it ascribes to the context of the participants' experience. Among the many techniques of qualitative research, the use of phenomenological methods, in particular, interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA), is highly developed in medical research. OBJECTIVES: To define the qualitative method and describe the principal stages of a phenomenological qualitative study. RESULTS: The three stages of a qualitative study are data collection (population and sampling, data collection methods), data analysis, and writing up the results. Purposive sampling makes it possible to include participants who can describe in detail, and as experts, their experience during semi-structured interviews. The analysis takes place in two stages, the first very descriptive, the second more interpretative. The results are written-up in a narrative form, including both direct quotations from the interviews and the researchers' interpretation. DISCUSSION: The issues of health promotion and healthcare associated with the management of chronic symptoms or diseases in adolescents involve an extremely rich and complex context. Qualitative methods make it possible to approach these questions and to understand them better by generating hypotheses from a rigorous scientific procedure appropriate to the context and objectives. In addition to being used on their own, they can be used on an exploratory basis early in a quantitative study to help define it better, for explanatory purposes, to help understand complex quantitative results, or combined with a quantitative study. The qualitative and quantitative results will then be integrated.
BACKGROUND: The vast majority of publications about adolescent healthcare use a quantitative methodology that often involves long and expensive research protocols with results that do not always provide answers adequate to the complexity of the questions being asked. The qualitative method is sometimes a more effective alternative for exploring some of these. This method can be defined from its objective, which is to generate theoretical hypotheses, its mandatory consideration of the researcher's subjectivity, and the importance it ascribes to the context of the participants' experience. Among the many techniques of qualitative research, the use of phenomenological methods, in particular, interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA), is highly developed in medical research. OBJECTIVES: To define the qualitative method and describe the principal stages of a phenomenological qualitative study. RESULTS: The three stages of a qualitative study are data collection (population and sampling, data collection methods), data analysis, and writing up the results. Purposive sampling makes it possible to include participants who can describe in detail, and as experts, their experience during semi-structured interviews. The analysis takes place in two stages, the first very descriptive, the second more interpretative. The results are written-up in a narrative form, including both direct quotations from the interviews and the researchers' interpretation. DISCUSSION: The issues of health promotion and healthcare associated with the management of chronic symptoms or diseases in adolescents involve an extremely rich and complex context. Qualitative methods make it possible to approach these questions and to understand them better by generating hypotheses from a rigorous scientific procedure appropriate to the context and objectives. In addition to being used on their own, they can be used on an exploratory basis early in a quantitative study to help define it better, for explanatory purposes, to help understand complex quantitative results, or combined with a quantitative study. The qualitative and quantitative results will then be integrated.
Authors: Janita Pak Chun Chau; Suzanne Hoi Shan Lo; Laveeza Butt; Vivian Wing Yan Lee; Grace Chung Yan Lui; Alexander Yuk Lun Lau Journal: J Cancer Educ Date: 2022-07-06 Impact factor: 2.037