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Photo elicitation interviewing (PEI), as a visual qualitative research methodology, has been used widely in various fields with different participants. However, little has been written about using the method in public health research, especially involving men in low-income settings. In this paper, the authors reflect upon the use of PEI in a study that explored fathers' experiences in child care and feeding in a low-income neighbourhood of Addis Ababa city in Ethiopia. The reflections focus on two overarching themes; (1) how PEI worked well as an effective technique in terms of addressing the research questions posed in this low-resourced setting and (2) how it served to enhance phenomenology in qualitative public health research. The researchers also discuss the limitations and lessons from employing this methodology through continuous reflexivity, which is valuable to qualitative work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A growing body of literature suggests combining organizational ethnography and case study design as a new methodology for investigating complex organizational phenomena in health care contexts. However, the arguments supporting the potential of organizational ethnographic case studies to improve the process and increase the impact of qualitative research in health care is currently underdeveloped. In this article, we aim to explore the methodological potentialities and limitations of combining organizational ethnography and case study to conduct in-depth empirical health care research. We conducted a scoping review, systematically investigating seven bibliographic databases to search, screen, and select empirical articles that employed organizational ethnographic case study to explore organizational phenomena in health care contexts. We screened 573 papers, then completed full-text review of 74 papers identified as relevant based on title and abstract. A total of 18 papers were retained for analysis. Data were extracted and synthesized using a two-phase descriptive and inductive thematic analysis. We then developed a methodological matrix that positions how the impact, contextualization, credibility, and depth of this combined methodology interact to increase the generative power of in-depth qualitative empirical research in health care. Our review reveals that organizational ethnographic case studies have their own distinct methodological identity in the wider domain of qualitative health care research. We argue that by accelerating the research process, enabling various sources of reflexivity, and spreading the depth and contextualization possibilities of empirical investigation of complex organizational phenomena, this combined methodology may stimulate greater academic dynamism and increase the impact of research. Organizational ethnographic case studies appear as a new in-depth qualitative methodology that both challenges and improves the conventional ways we study the lives of organizations and the experiences of actors within the interconnected realms of health care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Systematic synthesis of qualitative studies is widely used in health and social care. Regardless of the topic area, researchers need to consider several decisions when it comes to the planning and implementation of qualitative synthesis. As junior reviewers, we reflect on potential challenges and pitfalls in planning and conducting a synthesis of qualitative evidence. This article aims to elaborate on a number of key issues in order to provide insights and options on how to avoid or minimize these issues, especially for new reviewers and research students. This article examines difficulties in different stages and presents some examples of how intellectual and technical issues can be approached and resolved, including how to ensure effective identification of the relevant research to answer the review question? What are the potential pitfalls during the screening and evaluation process? The implications of different issues are examined and potential directions are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The widespread privileging of children's voices in recent times has triggered expansion of differing forms of qualitative enquiry that aim to "give children a voice." Engaging children in research and eliciting their voices on matters that affect them is often showcased as being a more "authentic" way to capture children's lived realities and afford their agency. Yet, the uptake of voice in qualitative enquiry, and how it may contribute to the privileging of particular ways of knowing (some) children's lives, is rarely interrogated. Drawing on examples from our own research, in this paper we critically reflect on the frequent invoking of the term voice in qualitative health research with children. In doing so, we challenge claims of authenticity by exposing the tricky epistemological tensions and relations of power that are embedded within the production and legitimation of particular voices as being "correct" ways of knowing about health—including the ways our research intentions and methods contribute to these processes. We reflect on the methodological and epistemological value of silences, dissenting voices and other modes of expression to highlight forms of resistance to adult-led health agendas. We conclude by illustrating how dominant relations of power are (re)produced within and across research spaces, and through the mobilizing or pathologizing of particular young voices through research. Possibilities for advancing ways to harness children's preferred modes of expression in qualitative research are also considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To contribute to healthcare improvements, qualitative health research must adapt to the demanding pace of constantly changing healthcare practices and policies. To meet this challenge, researchers need methods for rigorous and rapid data analysis. This article introduces the Rapid Group Analysis Process (Rap-GAP), a new approach for rapid qualitative data analysis. This method is more efficient than other rapid qualitative analysis methods. It allows for the direct involvement of diverse participants in the analysis process, including patients or healthcare decision-makers with limited qualitative research experience, while keeping the analysis grounded in the primary data (e.g., transcripts). These attributes make Rap-GAP a unique and valuable alternative to traditional qualitative analysis. This article describes the 5-step Rap-GAP process and 3 case studies that demonstrate how to use the method and adapt it for different analytical goals. Future research will evaluate and describe the outcomes of Rap-GAP compared to traditional qualitative analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Attention has recently been given to the role of race in many aspects of the research process; however, minimal has been written to critique the role of race in qualitative fieldnotes. This gap creates potential conflicts about representation that can exclude marginalized communities and call into question findings when race is ignored in the research process. To successfully address potential investigator biases with a lens towards social justice and equity in healthcare, a critique of foundational methods is required. Here we posit that a qualitative health researchers' primary tool is their fieldnotes because they contextualize findings and serve as a method to learn through systematic interpretation of local meanings revealed by participants. Here, we provide researchers guidance for teaching and writing fieldnotes that speak to current nuances of observations and interactions with participants. Definitions related to race and ethnicity, the importance of applying appropriate sensitizing frameworks, followed by a discussion of how to use fieldnotes in findings are covered. We include (1) a call for more preparation of novice researchers and a challenge for established researchers to update expertise for collecting and using fieldnotes in the research process, (2) guidance on negotiating difficult situations, and (3) the significance of language in creating credibility in findings when addressing race in qualitative research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Qualitative methods encompass a variety of research and analysis techniques which have the common aim of uncovering what cannot be captured numerically through the quantification of data. For qualitative analytical methods in the interpretivist tradition (e.g. grounded theory, phenomenological, thematic, etc), inductive coding has become a mainstay but has not always lent itself to collaborative, remote team-based data interpretation among qualitative and mixed-methods clinical researchers. Finding ways to speed the inductive coding process without sacrificing rigour while remaining accessible to geographically dispersed teams remains a priority. This is especially crucial in global health partnerships where on-the-ground researchers may have less input into codebook development compared to in-the-office researchers. We describe a newly-developed, digital approach that integrates findings from our qualitative team, which we call R-EIGHT (Remote and Equitable Inductive Analysis for Global Health Teams). The technique we developed a) speeds the process of inductive coding as a team, b) visually displays interpretive consensus, and c) when appropriate fosters streamlined integration of inductive findings into codebooks. Because it involves all team members, our approach helps break the divide between in-office and on-the-ground teams, fostering integrated and representative contributions from all globally-dispersed team members. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This contribution focuses on our experiences as lecturers and supervisors in qualitative healthcare research in medicine, public health research and sociology, and the role of research ethics in guiding students in their qualitative studies. We argue that students themselves are vulnerable during the transition of becoming a qualitative researcher and that reflection on research is essential. Therefore, the selection of a topic, potential role conflicts and questions of field contingencies management become crucial elements in both teaching and researching. We use qualitative case vignettes, as suggested by Langer, to offer a reflective account of our experience. Protecting students from harm and preventing them from inadvertently causing harm to others are of utmost importance to us. Through these vignettes, we aim to provide a nuanced and reflective view of our experiences in supervising qualitative research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Solicited journal entries are a qualitative research method with a fairly strong tradition in sociological research and particularly in qualitative health research. However, the practices and strengths associated with solicited journal entries have not been explored as frequently or comprehensively as more conventional qualitative research methods, such as interviews. During the COVID-19 pandemic we carried out two online studies employing solicited written journal entries and photos. One study focused on pregnancy and health care experiences during the pandemic and the other on everyday life while working from home due to public health restrictions. Here, we discuss solicited online journal entries as a qualitative method and reflect on the strengths and challenges we encountered, including those related to using the online survey tool LimeSurvey for a qualitative diary-based study. The richness of data and the ability to solicit participants' contemporaneous reflections over the course of a set length of time, the ability to reach people across time zones and in multiple places, and the ability to adapt prompts in a quickly changing research context are major strengths of online journaling. The level of commitment required by participants, the potential for attrition, the need for literacy and technology access, and the large amount of data from each participant are potential limitations for researchers to consider. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has been growing interest in the use of qualitative methods in health research amongst health and social care professionals. Good qualitative cross-cultural research analysis is not an easy task as it involves knowledge of different approaches, techniques and command of the appropriate languages. This article aims to discuss and explore some of the key processes and concepts involved in conducting translation and transliteration of qualitative research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using examples from qualitative health research and from my childhood experience of reading a poem about a boy devoured by a lion (Belloc, 1907), I expand on a framework for reflexivity developed in Bischoping and Gazso (2016). This framework is unique in first synthesizing works from multidisciplinary narrative analysis research in order to arrive at common criteria for a "good" story: reportability, liveability, coherence, and fidelity. Next, each of these criteria is used to generate questions that can prompt reflexivity among qualitative researchers, regardless of whether they use narrative data or other narrative analysis strategies. These questions pertain to a broad span of issues, including appropriation, censorship, and the power to represent, using discomfort to guide insight, addressing vicarious traumatization, accommodating diverse participant populations, decolonizing ontology, and incorporating power and the social into analyses overly focused on individual meaning-making. Finally, I reflect on the affinities between narrative - in its imaginatively constructed, expressive, and open-ended qualities - and the reflexive impulse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]