When Actions Speak Louder Than Words

Abstract

Through the lens of a study exploring dementia care partnering, the purpose of this methods article is to focus on the role of artifacts and embodied data in data collection. In addition, it illustrates how to use a range of data collecting methods. The article identifies benefits of additional data collecting methods to research and care. These include the need to expand data collecting methods beyond spoken word, integrate a range of data collecting approaches into research courses across disciplines, increase support of qualitative research, and advocate for greater inclusivity in research. Data collecting approaches can also have implications for quality of life among persons often excluded from research-building endeavors. They can contribute to the unfolding of new findings, which can influence care practices.

Parents Caring For Adult Children With Serious Mental Illness

“…Qualitative description stays close to the data and the surface of the event, using low-inference interpretative deduction (Sandelowski, 2000;Sullivan-Bolyai et al, 2005). The naturalistic paradigm is based on holistic philosophy where the researcher has prolonged engagement with participants in a naturalistic setting to capture participants' perceptions of a specific phenomenon (Lincoln & Guba, 1985;McGovern, 2016). This process requires deep attentiveness, empathetic understanding, and suspension of preconceptions about the topic under study (Miles, Huberman, & Saldana, 2014).…”

“…During the course of the interviews, data were also collected through participant observation. Participant observation is accomplished through the researcher's active engagement with the participants as the researcher uses all of his or her senses to gain data on the human experience under inquiry (McGovern, 2016;Sandelowski, 2002). All data were de-identified and stored on an encrypted drive.…”