Paper
Sunday, November 4, 2007
348
Constructivist Qualitative Interviewing of Mothers of Medically Fragile Infants: Strategies for Qualitative Data Collection in a Potentially Vulnerable Population
Marcia R. Gardner, PhD, RN, CPNP, CPN, College of Nursing and Health Professions, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| Learning Objective #1: discuss the conceptualization of this group of women as a potentially vulnerable population |
| Learning Objective #2: describe effective interviewing strategies for mothers of infants within a constructivist framework |
Interviews are commonly used in research to collect data for analysis. Interviewing processes need to be consistent with the underlying research paradigm chosen to examine a question, and tailored to both the aims and subjects of the study. This presentation will address the development of an interviewing approach for a grounded theory study of first-time mothers of medically fragile infants. For grounded theory, data collection can be appropriately operationalized using the semi-structured interview. The processes and issues involved in developing and using a paradigm-consistent approach to semi-structured interviews in this specialized population of women will be outlined. Data from the study will be used to illustrate specific interviewing considerations for this population. These considerations include grounded theory and constructivist underpinnings for interviewing, potential vulnerability of the population, access, facilitation, communication and rapport strategies, interview structure, minimization of power differentials, protection from harm, and study rigor in the context of interviewing and qualitative data collection.