Methodological developments in qualitative longitudinal research: the advantages and challenges of regular telephone contact with participants in a qualitative longitudinal interview study

BMC Research Notes

Marilyn Kendall²  Scott A Murray²  Emma Carduff¹ 

[1]Marie Curie, Fairmile, Frogston Road West, Edinburgh, UK

[2]Primary Palliative Care Research Group, Centre for Population Health Sciences, The Usher Institute of Population Health Sciences and Informatics, The University of Edinburgh, Medical School, Teviot Place, Edinburgh, UK

关键词: Telephone interviews;    Research relationship;    Research design;    Qualitative longitudinal research;    Palliative care;    End of life issues;    Interviews;    Death and dying;    Cancer;   

Others  :  1177924
DOI  :  10.1186/s13104-015-1107-y

 received in 2014-11-20, accepted in 2015-03-31,  发布年份 2015

【 摘 要 】

Background

Qualitative longitudinal research is an evolving methodology, particularly within health care research. It facilitates a nuanced understanding of how phenomena change over time and is ripe for innovative approaches. However, methodological reflections which are tailored to health care research are scarce. This article provides a synthesised and practical account of the advantages and challenges of maintaining regular telephone contact between interviews with participants in a qualitative longitudinal study.

Methods

Participants with metastatic colorectal cancer were interviewed at 3 time points over the course of a year. Half the group also received monthly telephone calls to explore the added value and the feasibility of capturing change as close to when it was occurring as possible.

Results

The data gathered from the telephone calls added context to the participants’ overall narrative and informed subsequent interviews. The telephone calls meant we were able to capture change close to when it happened and there was a more evolved, and involved, relationship between the researcher and the participants who were called on a monthly basis. However, ethical challenges were amplified, boundaries of the participant/researcher relationship questioned, and there was the added analytical burden.

Conclusions

The telephone calls facilitated a more nuanced understanding of the illness experience to emerge, when compared with the interview only group. The findings suggest that intensive telephone contact may be justified if retention is an issue, when the phenomena being studied is unpredictable and when participants feel disempowered or lack control. These are potential issues for research involving participants with long-term illness.

【 授权许可】

   
2015 Carduff et al.; licensee BioMed Central.

【 参考文献 】

• [1]Holland J, Thomson R, Henderson S: Qualitative Longitudinal Research: A Discussion Paper. Families and Social Capital ESRC Research Group Working Paper No 21, London South Bank University; 2006, http://www1.lsbu.ac.uk/ahs/downloads/families/familieswp21.pdf. Accessed 10/02/2015
• [2]Neale B, Flowerdew J: International Journal of Social Research Methodology 2003, 6: 189-200. doi:10.1080/1364557032000091798
• [3]McLeod J, Thomson R: Researching Social Change. Sage, London; 2009.
• [4]Saldana J: Longitudinal Qualitative Research: Analyzing Change Through Time. AltaMira Press, Walnut Creek, CA; 2003.
• [5]Lewis J: Analysing qualitative longitudinal research in evaluations. Social Policy Society 2007, 6:545-56.
• [6]Pettigrew A: Longitudinal field research on change: theory and practice. Organization Sci 1990, 1:267-92.
• [7]Murray SA, Sheikh A: Serial interviews for patients with progressive diseases. Lancet 2006, 368:901-2.
• [8]Murray SA, Kendall M, Carduff E, Worth A, Harris FM, Lloyd A, et al.: Use of serial qualitative interviews to understand patients' evolving experiences and needs. BMJ 2009, 339:b3702.
• [9]Cavers DMP, Hacking BMD, Erridge SEM, Kendall MMP, Morris PGM, Murray SAM: Social, psychological and existential well-being in patients with glioma and their caregivers: a qualitative study. Can Med Assoc J 2012, 184:373-82.
• [10]Calman L, Brunton L, Molassiotis A: Developing longitudinal qualitative designs: lessons learned and recommendations for health services research. BMC Med Res Methodol 2013, 13:14.
• [11]Lawton J, Rankin D, Peel E, Douglas M: Patients' perceptions and experiences of transitions in diabetes care: a longitudinal qualitative study. Health Expect 2009, 12:138-48.
• [12]McGrath P, Paton MA, Huff N: Beginning treatment for paediatric acute myeloid leukaemia: diagnosis and the early hospital experience. Scand J Caring Sci 2004, 18(4):358-67.
• [13]Woodgate RL: Life is never the same: childhood cancer narratives. Eur J Cancer Care 2006, 15(1):8-18.
• [14]Lowe M, Molassiotis A: A longitudinal qualitative analysis of the factors that influence patient distress within the lung cancer population. Lung Cancer 2011, 74:344-8.
• [15]Wood JP, Connelly DM, Maly MR: 'Getting back to real living': A qualitative study of the process of community reintegration after stroke. Clin Rehabil 2010, 24:1045-56.
• [16]Crotty M: The Foundations of Social Research: Meaning, and perspective in the research process. Sage, London; 1998.
• [17]National Cancer Intelligence Network: Colorectal Cancer Survival by Stage - NCIN Data Briefing. http://www.ncin.org.uk/cancer_type_and_topic_specific_work/cancer_type_specific_work/colorectal_cancer/, accessed 05/02/2015 2015.
• [18]Frank A: The Wounded Storyteller: Body, Illness and Ethics. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago and London; 1995.
• [19]Kleinman A: The Illness Narratives: Suffering, Healing, and the Human Condition. Basic Books, New York; 1988.
• [20]Mishler EG: Research Interviewing: Context and Narrative. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts; 1986.
• [21]Mathieson C, Stam H: Renegotiating identity: cancer narratives. Sociol Health Illn 1995, 17:283-306.
• [22]Hyden LC: Illness and narrative. Sociol Health Illn 1997, 19:48-69.
• [23]Holt A: Using the telephone for narrative interviewing: a research note. Qual Res 2010, 10:113-21.
• [24]Richardson L: Writing: A method of inquiry. In Handbook of Qualitative Research. 2nd edition. Edited by Denzin N, Lincoln Y. Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA; 2000:923-48.
• [25]Thomson R, Bell R, Holland J, Henderson S, McGrellis S, Sharpe S: Critical moments: choice, chance and opportunity in young People's narratives of transition. Sociol 2002, 36:335-54.
• [26]Brown L, Gilligan C: Meeting at the Crossroads: Women's psychology and girls development. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA; 1992.
• [27]Reissman C: Narrative Analysis. Sage, London; 1993.
• [28]Labov W, Waletzky J. Narrative Analysis: Oral versions of personal experience. In Essays on Verbal and Visual Arts. Edited by Helm J. Seattle: 1967:12-44.
• [29]Taylor SA: Engaging and retaining vulnerable youth in a short-term longitudinal qualitative study. Qual Soc Work 2009, 8:391-408.
• [30]Hubbard G, Kidd L, Kearney N: Disrupted lives and threats to identity: the experiences of people with colorectal cancer within the first year following diagnosis. Health (London) 2010, 14:131-46.
• [31]Shaha M, Cox CL: The omnipresence of cancer. Eur J Oncol Nurs 2003, 7:191-6.
• [32]Sjovall K, Gunnars B, Olsson H, Thome B: Experiences of living with advanced colorectal cancer from two perspectives - inside and outside. Eur J Oncol Nurs 2011, 15:390-7.
• [33]Bury M: Chronic illness as biographical disruption. Sociol Health Illn 1982, 4:167-82.
• [34]Charmaz K: Loss of self: a fundamental form of suffering in the chronically ill. Sociol Health Illn 1983, 5:168-95.
• [35]Kidd L, Kearney N, O'Carroll R, Hubbard G: Experiences of self-care in patients with colorectal cancer: a longitudinal study. J Adv Nurs 2008, 64:469-77.
• [36]Rozmovits L, Ziebland S: Expressions of loss of adulthood in the narratives of people with colorectal cancer. Qual Health Res 2004, 14:187-203.
• [37]Peel E, Parry O, Douglas M, Lawton J: "It's no skin off my nose": why people take part in qualitative research. Qual Health Res 2006, 16:1335-49.
• [38]Lowes L, Paul G: Participants' experiences of being interviewed about an emotive topic. J Adv Nurs 2006, 55:587-95.
• [39]McGrath P: Benefits of participation in longitudinal qualitative research study. Monash Bioeth Rev 2003, 22:63-78.
• [40]Dickson-Swift V, James EL, Kippen S, Liamputtong P: Blurring boundaries in qualitative health research on sensitive topics. Qual Health Res 2006, 16:853-71.
• [41]Inventing Adulthoods: www.lsbu.ac.uk/inventingadulthoods/. 2012.
• [42]Thomson R, Holland J, McGrellis S, Bell R, Henderson S, Sharpe S: Inventing adulthoods: a biographical approach to understanding youth citizenship. Sociol Rev 2004, 52:218-39.
• [43]Goodacre L: Women's perceptions on managing chronic arthritis. Br J Occup Therapy 2006, 69:7-14.
• [44]Nissim R, Gagliese L, Rodin G: The desire for hastened death in individuals with advanced cancer: A longitudinal qualitative study. Soc Sci Med 2009, 69:165-71.
• [45]Sturges JE, Hanrahan KJ: Comparing telephone and face-to-face qualitative interviewing: a research note. Qual Res 2004, 4:107-18.