Virginia Dickson-Swift

Bio: Virginia Dickson-Swift is an academic researcher from La Trobe University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Health care & Qualitative research. The author has an hindex of 24, co-authored 76 publications receiving 3394 citations. Previous affiliations of Virginia Dickson-Swift include Deakin University.

Doing sensitive research: what challenges do qualitative researchers face?

Abstract: As health researchers we need to investigate a wide range of topics to enhance our understanding of the many issues that affect health and well-being in today's society. Much of the health research...

Methodology or method? A critical review of qualitative case study reports

Abstract: Despite on-going debate about credibility, and reported limitations in comparison to other approaches, case study is an increasingly popular approach among qualitative researchers. We critically analysed the methodological descriptions of published case studies. Three high-impact qualitative methods journals were searched to locate case studies published in the past 5 years; 34 were selected for analysis. Articles were categorized as health and health services (n=12), social sciences and anthropology (n=7), or methods (n=15) case studies. The articles were reviewed using an adapted version of established criteria to determine whether adequate methodological justification was present, and if study aims, methods, and reported findings were consistent with a qualitative case study approach. Findings were grouped into five themes outlining key methodological issues: case study methodology or method, case of something particular and case selection, contextually bound case study, researcher and case interactions and triangulation, and study design inconsistent with methodology reported. Improved reporting of case studies by qualitative researchers will advance the methodology for the benefit of researchers and practitioners.

Researching sensitive topics : qualitative research as emotion work.

Abstract: There is a growing awareness that undertaking qualitative research is an embodied experience and that researchers may be emotionally affected by the work that they do. Despite the interest in the emotional nature of qualitative research, there is very little empirical evidence about the researchers' experiences of undertaking qualitative research. A grounded theory analysis of one-on-one interviews with thirty public health researchers working on a qualitative project provided both theoretical and empirical evidence that qualitative researchers undertake emotion work throughout their research projects. The findings provide examples of researchers doing emotion work in their research projects; highlight some of the consequences of emotion work and offer some suggestions for researcher self-care.

Blurring Boundaries in Qualitative Health Research on Sensitive Topics

Abstract: Qualitative health researchers immerse themselves in the settings that they are studying. This immersion involves personal interaction with their participants, with the result that the boundaries between the researcher and the group of people under study can easily become blurred. Although health researchers have been undertaking qualitative research for many years, recognition of boundary issues inherent in this type of research have received little attention. To investigate such issues, the authors conducted interviews with 30 qualitative health researchers. A grounded theory analysis of the interview transcripts revealed that researchers can identify a number of boundaries in their research, including the boundaries between researcher and friend, researcher and counselor or therapist, and professional boundaries. The authors discuss the findings and offer recommendations for qualitative health researchers involved in researching sensitive topics, including the need for researchers to consider the impacts that undertaking research might have on them.

Risk to Researchers in Qualitative Research on Sensitive Topics: Issues and Strategies

Abstract: Traditionally, risk assessments in research have been limited to examining the risks to the research participants. Although doing so is appropriate and important, there is growing recognition that undertaking research can pose risks to researchers as well. A grounded theory study involving a range of researchers who had undertaken qualitative health research on a sensitive topic was completed. Analysis of the in-depth, face-to-face unstructured individual interviews with 30 Australian public health researchers provided evidence that researchers do confront a number of physical and emotional risks when undertaking research. Training, preparation, and supervision must be taken into account so that the risk to researchers can be minimized. Researchers need to consider occupational health and safety issues in designing research projects that deal with physical and emotional risks. Recommendations for professional supervision, policy development, and minimum training standards for researchers are provided.

Research Methods in Health. Investigating health and health services

Abstract: This new edition of Ann Bowling's well-known and highly respected text has been thoroughly revised and updated to reflect key methodological developments in health research. It is a comprehensive, easy to read, guide to the range of methods used to study and evaluate health and health services. It describes the concepts and methods used by the main disciplines involved in health research, including: demography, epidemiology, health economics, psychology and sociology.The research methods described cover the assessment of health needs, morbidity and mortality trends and rates, costing health services, sampling for survey research, cross-sectional and longitudinal survey design, experimental methods and techniques of group assignment, questionnaire design, interviewing techniques, coding and analysis of quantitative data, methods and analysis of qualitative observational studies, and types of unstructured interviewing. With new material on topics such as cluster randomization, utility analyses, patients' preferences, and perception of risk, the text is aimed at students and researchers of health and health services. It has also been designed for health professionals and policy makers who have responsibility for applying research findings in practice, and who need to know how to judge the value of that research.

What is Qualitative Interviewing

Abstract: What is Qualitative Interviewing? is an accessible and comprehensive ‘what is’ and ‘how to’ methods book. It is distinctive in emphasizing the importance of good practice in understanding and undertaking qualitative interviews within the framework of a clear philosophical position. Rosalind Edwards and Janet Holland provide clear and succinct explanations of relevant philosophies and theories of how to know about the social world, and a thorough discussion of how to go about researching it using interviews. A series of short chapters explain a range of interview types and practices. Drawing on their own and colleagues’ experiences Edwards and Holland provide real research examples as informative illustrations of qualitative interviewing in practice and the use of creative interview tools. They discuss the use of new technologies as well as tackling enduring issues around asking and listening, and power dynamics in research. Written in a clear and accessible style the book concludes with a useful annotated bibliography of key texts and journals in the field. What is Qualitative Interviewing? provides a vital resource for both new and experienced researchers across the social science disciplines.