simple introduction to key sections of a write up
Writing a qualitative research report
Philip Burnard PhD, RN (Professor of Nursing)
School of Nursing and Midwifery Studies, University of Wales College of Medicine, Heath Park, Cardiff, UK
Summary A research project in nursing or nursing education is probably only
complete once the findings have been published. This paper offers a format for
writing a qualitative research report for publication. It suggests, at least, the
following sections: introduction, aims of the study, review of the literature, sample,
data collection methods, data analysis methods, findings, discussion, conclusion,
abstract. Each of these sections is addressed along with many written-out examples.
In some sections, alternative approaches are suggested. The aim of the paper is to
help the neophyte researcher to structure his or her report and for the experienced
researcher to reflect on his or her current practice. References to other source
material on qualitative research are given.
c 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved
great paper on making it creative
Presenting Qualitative Data
by Ronald J. Chenail
(http://www.nova.edu/ssss/QR/QR2-3/presenting.html)
The following are just of the many ways data can be arranged and presented:
Natural - The data are presented in a shape that resembles the phenomenon being studied. For instance, if the data are excerpts from a therapy session, present them in a sequential order or in an order that re-presents the flow of the session itself.
Most Simple to Most Complex - For sake of understanding, start the presentation of data with the simplest example you have found. As the complexity of each example or exemplar presented increases, the reader will have a better chance of following the presentation. Erving Goffman's work is a good example of this style.
First Discovered/Constructed to Last Discovered/Constructed - The data are presented in a chronicle-like fashion, showing the course of the researcher's personal journey in the study. This style is reminiscent of an archeological style of presentation: What was the first "relic" excavated, then the second and so forth.
Quantitative-Informed - In this scheme data are presented according to strategies commonly found in quantitative or statistical studies. Data are arranged along lines of central tendencies and ranges, clusters, and frequencies.
Theory-Guided - Data arrangement is governed by the researcher's theory or theories regarding the phenomenon being re-presented in the study. For instance, a Marxist-informed researcher might present data from a doctor-patient interview in terms of talk which shows who controls the means for producing information in the interaction, talk which illustrates who is being marginalized, and so forth. In clinical qualitative research, this approach is quite prevalent as clinicians organize the data in terms of their understandings of how doctor-patient, or nurse-patient, and therapist-client interact.
Narrative Logic - Data are arranged with an eye for storytelling. Researchers plot out the data in a fashion which allows them to transition from one exemplar to another just as narrators arrange details in order to best relate the particulars of the story.
Most Important to Least Important or From Major to Minor - Like the journalistic style of the inverted pyramid, the most important "findings" are presented first and the minor "discoveries" come last.
Dramatic Presentation - This one is the opposite of the inverted pyramid style. With the dramatic arrangement scheme, researchers order their data presentation so as to save the surprises and unforeseen discoveries for last.
No Particular Order Order - As it sounds, data are arranged with no particular, conscious pattern in mind, or the researcher fails to explain how or why the data are displayed the way they are.
a creative piece
Conversations: On Writing Qualitative Research
Author(s): Donna E. Alvermann, David G. O'Brien, Deborah R. Dillon
Source: Reading Research Quarterly, Vol. 31, No. 1 (Jan. - Feb. - Mar., 1996), pp. 114-120
Published by: International Reading Association
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/748242
Accessed: 07/11/2010 17:32
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