Using a Qualitative Vignette to Explore a Complex Public Health Issue

Abstract

This article discusses how qualitative vignettes were combined with interviews to explore a complex public health issue; that is, promoting unhealthy foods and beverages to children and adolescents. It outlines how the technique was applied in practice and the combination of vignette-based interviews with a broader approach involving Gadamerian hermeneutics. Twenty-one participants from the public health community and the marketing and food and beverage industries took part in vignette-based interviews between March and September 2012. Overall, the qualitative vignette method afforded an efficient, generally well-received technique that effectively explored the issue of promoting unhealthy foods and beverages to children and adolescents. The vignette provided structure to interviews but allowed certain responses to be investigated in greater depth. Through this research, we argue that qualitative vignettes allow researchers to explore complex public health issues. This article also provides a valuable resource for researchers seeking to explore this technique.

Adolescents’ Views on Seeking Help for Emotional and Behavioral Problems: A Focus Group Study

“…The use of the vignettes gave the ability to discuss sensitive topics in a structured and non-threatening manner, compared to discussing personal experiences of the participants. However, the use of vignettes may have elicited different views than real-life situations would have [27]. Another strength of the study was the use of gender-neutral names in the vignettes, thus that gender bias could be prevented.…”

“…The 2nd vignette depicted an adolescent who had many issues, at home and in school, with high levels of school absenteeism. After one vignette was read, a discussion was started using pre-defined questions on the help-seeking behavior of the participants if they were to be in a similar situation, such as facilitating factors or barriers to seek help and the chosen help source (see Appendices A and B) [27,28]. Vignettes provided practical scenarios in an accessible form to the research population [27].…”

“…After one vignette was read, a discussion was started using pre-defined questions on the help-seeking behavior of the participants if they were to be in a similar situation, such as facilitating factors or barriers to seek help and the chosen help source (see Appendices A and B) [27,28]. Vignettes provided practical scenarios in an accessible form to the research population [27]. The method of using vignettes enabled the exploration of participants' subjective belief systems: "Participants are typically asked to respond to these stories with what they would do in a particular situation or how they think a third person would respond" [28].…”

Fra vignetter til displays: Stringens i kvalitativeforskningsprojekter

“…Ydermere argumenterer Jackson et al (8), at respondenterne relaterer sig til vignetten på en anden måde, end til de eksempler intervieweren mundtligt udtrykker i løbet af samtalen. Sådanne eksempler vil af respondenten oftest blive opfattet som noget, intervieweren inddrager spontant og dermed kun aktuelt for det pågaeldende interview med dets specifikke respondenter -uanset at det sagtens kunne vaere et eksempel, der er en fast del af interviewguiden.…”

Opening up dialogues and airways: using vignettes to enrich asthma understandings in sport and exercise

“…The vignette usually provides sufficient context and information for participants to have an understanding of the scenario being depicted, but needs to be vague in ways that encourage participants to fill in the detail (Braun andClarke 2013, Sparkes andSmith 2014). Vignettes have been used in a range of health research, including the investigation of attitudes toward complex public health issues (Jackson et al 2015), as well as understandings of illness symptoms (Oberoi et al 2015), and the impact of sociological variables such as age and ethnicity upon lived experiences of illness (Higginbottom 2006). They have also been found to assist health professionals in identifying and understanding how people's asthma narratives may be helping or hindering positive healthcare behaviours and self-management (Owton et al 2015).…”