Page 477 - Encyclopedia of Nursing Research

444 n RESEARCH INTERVIEWS (QUAlITATIVE)

As there are strict government guidelines attempted to understand other societies and
regarding this matter, institutions are care- cultures. As nurse scientists were trained in
R ful to enforce these. Another such area per- these methods in the late 1960s and the 1970s,
tains to the need for attribution when either they began using research interviews in nurs-
ideas or words from others are used, either ing studies. Some researchers who seek quan-
by paraphrasing or by quoting. titative data from questionnaires may refer
It is important to note that within the to the structured, standardized survey that
United States we assume many of the above is administered face-to-face to large groups
principles and practices to be universal; yet, of people. The present definition, however,
this is not the case. In reality, there are many refers to the in-depth and generally less struc-
variations across nations and cultures with tured interview used in qualitative research.
regard to these matters. Thus, we need to The research method (e.g., grounded the-
be especially mindful of the training our ory, phenomenology, and ethnography) sug-
international students may have received in gests the style and purpose of the interview
their education prior to coming to the United questions. The research objectives are funda-
States. Careful attention to the socialization mental to the interview questions to maintain
and mentoring of this group of students is the integrity of the research. Grounded the-
merited. ory research intended to discover contexts,
Truthfulness and honesty are basic tenets phases, and processes of a given phenome-
in science. Scientific knowledge is a cumula- non requires questions designed to acquire
tive process to which generations of scientists knowledge, such as, what is the context of
contribute insights over time. A quote attrib- death in a nursing home or at home or what
uted to Sir Isaac Newton expresses this best: are the phases of dying? Phenomenological
“If I have seen further, it is by standing upon research that aims to capture what is referred
the shoulders of giants.” to as “the lived experience” may use only one
general question: Please tell me all that you
Shaké Ketefian can about dying. Ethnographic research that
is focused on culture may ask about which
family members are involved in decisions
concerning death and what their roles are.
Interviews are structured in phases—
ReseaRch inteRviews the introduction, the working phase, and ter-
(Qualitative) mination. In the introduction, the researcher
gives a personal introduction, states the
anticipated length of time of the interview,
The interview is a major data collection and makes some initial comments to relax the
strategy in qualitative research that aims to participant and to assist with the transition
obtain textual, qualitative data reflecting the from social conversation to research inter-
personal perspective of the interviewee. The view. In the working phase, the themes of the
interview creates an interactional situation in research are introduced, and the researcher
a face-to-face encounter between researchers and participant work toward generating a
and participants. In the study, the interviewer shared understanding. In the termination
acts as the instrument and through carefully phase, the interview draws to a close, and
designed questions, attempts to elicit the often, brief social conversation occurs again.
other person’s opinions, attitudes, or knowl- The interview demands careful thought
edge about a given topic. Research interviews about the nature, wording, and sequence of
have historically provided the foundation for questions. Generally, questions move from
sociological and anthropological studies that general to specific, becoming more focused