Qualitative approaches to research in psychology and the social sciences are increasingly used. The variety of approaches incorporates different epistemologies, theoretical traditions and practices with associated analysis techniques spanning a range of theoretical and empirical frameworks. Despite the increase in mixed method approaches it is unusual for qualitative methods to be used in combination with each other. The Pluralism in Qualitative Research project (PQR) was developed in order to investigate the benefits and creative tensions of integrating diverse qualitative approaches. Among other objectives it seeks to interrogate the contributions and impact of researchers and methods on data analysis. The article presents our pluralistic analysis of a single semi-structured interview transcript. Analyses were carried out by different researchers using grounded theory, Foucauldian discourse analysis, interpretative phenomenological analysis and narrative analysis. We discuss the variation and agreement in the analysis of the data. The implications of the findings on the conduct, writing and presentation of qualitative research are discussed.K E Y W O R D S : mixed methods, pluralism, qualitative research, rigour, subjectivity, transparencyPluralism in qualitative research: the impact of different researchers and qualitative approaches on the analysis of qualitative data This article builds on the first author's previous work (Frost, 2006(Frost, , 2009) on exploring the use of within-method pluralistic approaches to qualitative research. We present findings from a study that was developed to explore acrossmethod pluralistic approaches to qualitative research, the Pluralism in Qualitative Research (PQR) study. The study employed four data analysts to use one of four widely used qualitative analysis techniques to analyse one semistructured interview transcript. The four qualitative analysis methods employed were grounded theory (GT), interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA), Foucauldian discourse analysis (FDA) and narrative analysis (NA). These were chosen because they reflect four of the more commonly used approaches to qualitative research in the social sciences and are the particular areas of analysis specialized in at several of the institutions from which the research assistants were recruited. One purpose of our study was to explore what meanings could be made from the same data analysed by four different people using four different analytical lenses. To examine this in detail we also studied the researcher impact on the data analysis and our findings in this area are presented in this article.Before introducing the study in more detail we develop the concept of pluralism in qualitative research and briefly outline the four approaches that were used in the study.
Pluralism in qualitative researchQualitative research encompasses a wide range of approaches and also encompasses the mixing of those approaches (e.g. Dicks et al., 2006;Moran-Ellis et al., 2006). There is a range of advice about which metho...
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A B S T R A C T This article demonstrates a within-method pluralistic approach to narrative analysis. It uses an interview held with a mother expecting her second child, in which she talks about her expectations of second-time motherhood, to show how application of more than one narrative analysis to the data leads to a multi-dimensional interpretation. This approach draws on the strengths offered by each model it employs to privilege the narrator's words. By taking guidance from the interview text itself in each phase of analysis, layers of understanding of the account are built up. The article illustrates how eaxch interpretation is made. It demonstrates that the initial understanding of the story is gradually enriched by systematic exploration of the text until a new story emerges. The article concludes by presenting the new story and considering the strengths and limitations of the approach. K E Y W O R D S : motherhood, multi-dimensional understanding, narrative analysis, pluralistic approaches, qualitative research, triangulation A R T I C L E 9 'Do you know what I mean?': the use of a pluralistic narrative analysis approach in the interpretation of an interview
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Why do nurses in training continue to draw on the ideal of compassion when responding to their experiences of nursing work in the UK National Health Service (NHS), despite the difficulties that they face in developing compassionate, long-term relationships with patients in practice? To answer this question, we draw from a psychosocial analysis of focus group data from 49 trainee nurses in the NHS. First, we show how this ideal leads them to blame qualified nurses for failures in patient care. We suggest this is an unconscious defence against the anxiety evoked both by the vulnerability of their position as those who need to gain access to the profession, and of being unable to conduct compassionate nursing work. Second, we emphasize that less powerful occupational groups, such as trainee nurses, may adopt defences that underpin dominant organizational policy, such as idealization, despite further disadvantaging their group and benefitting those in power. We conclude by questioning the particular emphasis on compassion in nurses’ training, which can prevent occupational solidarity and the ability to reflect on the structural and organizational factors required to conduct patient-centred nursing work.
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