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Objectives: Creating a formulation is one of the key competencies of a clinical psychologist and is understood to be important for guiding therapeutic input and understanding client distress. However, client experience of formulations can vary, with some reporting it is unhelpful and distressing. This novel review explores the experiences of clinicians and clients when creating a formulation, specifically the barriers and facilitators to collaborating on a formulation. This ultimately aims to improve client experience and engagement in formulation., Methods: A systematic search of PubMed, Web of Science, PsycINFO and EMBASE was conducted using PRISMA guidelines. The protocol was registered on PROSPERO. This search was conducted using terms related to 'psychological formulation' and 'experience'. Nineteen qualitative papers met inclusion criteria and were appraised using the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme. Findings that pertained to formulation were thematically synthesised., Results: Three analytical themes were identified: toleration of the formulation process-'a necessary evil', which highlights the potential emotional impact of formulation on the client and indicates the importance of responding to client readiness and expectations of formulation; development of the therapeutic relationship-'it's like a two way thing, isn't it?', which suggests that client empowerment, adapting to client needs and clinicians creating a safe and containing environment facilitated the formulation process; systemic factors-'walking a tightrope', which highlights the constraints of resources and team dynamics in therapists' ability to engage in collaborative formulation., Conclusion: Facilitators to a collaborative formulation include the following: simple formulations, thorough assessment and preparation for formulation, 'doing with' activities such as timelines and diagrams and working environments that include supportive colleagues and time for reflection and training., (© 2024 The Author(s). Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Aim: To explore the experiences of partnership nursing among nurses when caring for children and young people with long-term conditions, and their families., Background: Partnership nursing is promoted as a positive model of care among paediatric nurses, where shared roles and decision-making, parental participation, mutual trust and respect, communication and negotiation are valued to create positive care experiences and enhance patient outcomes. Little is known about how nurses use partnership with both the patient and the parents in this triad to deliver partnership nursing., Design: A qualitative systematic review followed Joanna Briggs Institute meta-aggregation approach and has been reported according to PRISMA guidelines., Methods: A comprehensive systematic search was conducted in seven electronic databases. Studies were assessed according to a pre-determined inclusion criteria. Qualitative findings with illustrative participant quotes were extracted from included studies and grouped into categories to inform overall synthesised findings. Methodological quality assessment was conducted., Findings: A total of 5837 publications were screened, and 41 qualitative studies were included. Three overarching synthesised findings were identified: (1) Using education to promote feelings of safety and support, (2) Partnering to develop a strong therapeutic relationship and (3) Optimising communication underpinned by shared decision-making principles to deliver individualised care., Conclusion: Nurses demonstrated successful partnership in their practice, but focused on developing dyadic nurse-parent and dyadic nurse-child partnerships. Future practice development that creates a three-way triadic partnership may aid therapeutic relationships and shared decision-making., Implications for Clinical Practice: Clinicians can reflect on how dyadic partnerships (focusing on the child or the parent) may exclude opportunities for coherent care. Further exploration in practice, policy and research as to how nurses determine child competency and child and parent level of engagement in triadic partnership may improve the potential of meaningful shared decision-making., (© 2023 The Authors. Journal of Clinical Nursing published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Two professors share how they combined Web 2.0, multicultural themes, and undergraduate research in a first-year seminar. The professors explain the "perfect storm" of a project in which undergraduate students collected and analyzed tweets from advocates for various multicultural causes to produce their first collegiate research project. Capitalizing on student interest in social networking, professors aimed to meet multiple student learning objectives and satisfy an overarching theme of multiculturalism for the first-year seminar at a university in the southwestern United States. Students analyzed Twitter handles for causes or individuals advocating for causes related to social, political, and humanitarian efforts. Using basic qualitative and quantitative approaches, students wrote undergraduate research papers and presented their findings about how their cause and advocates used Twitter. The article provides project and assessment rubrics, ideas for improvement, and tools for replication.

Some studies have reported the positive outcome of using concordancers and dictionaries in (ESL) context. This study aims to examine how an EFL writer consulted with concordancers and dictionaries along with Google and Google Scholar when engaging in academic writing at university level. The researcher investigated a non-English-major postgraduate student corpus consultation over five months. The researcher provided a toolkit including corpus tools; concordancers, collocation dictionaries, thesaurus, Google, in combination with traditional reference resources such as monolingual and bilingual online dictionaries. The participant received a three-session training to consult with different resources while writing research paper. Real-time data, stimulated recall interview, participants' writing and query logs served as the main sources of data. Results showed that the participant was aware of the applicability of each corpus tool. He could successfully solve 604 linguistic problems, and promoted his linguistic awareness. It is implied that corpus tools have the potential to assist EFL writers in proofreading and editing the surface levels of their writing.

An educational experiment illustrates the electrolysis of water and copper chloride to middle school science students. The electrolysis cell is composed of filter paper soaked with Na[subscript 2]SO[subscript 4] or CuCl[subscript 2] aqueous solution sandwiched, along with a sheet of platinum foil, between two coin-type lithium batteries. When the electrolysis is carried out, the electrolysis cell is connected to a current indicator with a light-emitting diode (LED) and to a current-regulating diode (CRD). Because no elaborate components such as an ammeter, dc supply, or Hoffman Cell are needed, the experiment is easy and inexpensive to carry out. In addition, the time needed to obtain the result is less than 5 min and the results are visually clear. The water electrolysis experiment was tried in science classes of ninth grade students, and the responses from the students were positive. (Contains 7 figures.)

This study sought to determine if differences exist in the quantitative and qualitative data collected with paper and online versions of a medical school clerkship evaluation form. Data from six-and-a-half years of clerkship evaluations were used, some collected before and some after the conversion from a paper to an online evaluation system. The quantitative data consisted of a composite score based on the average of several Likert-type items; the qualitative data consisted of open-ended comments about the clerkships. Clerkship ratings were more positive in the online version. Students made significantly longer comments about both strengths and weaknesses on the online form than on the paper form. In addition, comments made on the online form were judged to be more informative and showed less evidence of "negativity" than those made on the paper form. The findings suggest that both quantitative and qualitative data obtained with online evaluation forms can differ in important ways from data collected with paper forms.

Gaining ethical approval for qualitative health research and implementing all the planned research processes in a proposed study are not straightforward endeavours. The situation becomes more complex when qualitative research is conducted in a cross-national healthcare and academic context. Also, it is even exhausting when the study is student-based, as student researchers may be considered novices and inexperienced researchers, especially for field-based research. Our aim in this reflective paper is to present, reflect, and discuss the experiences of a doctoral researcher in dealing with two independent institutional review boards in Canada and Ghana during an interdisciplinary Ph.D. project and the ethical dilemmas encountered while collecting data in Ghana. Based on the researcher's experiences, it became apparent that consent and its documentation can have cultural implications in different settings; hence, institutional review boards must exercise reflexivity in their protocol review practice. Also, sharing research data with participants and institutional leaders while maintaining participant confidentiality and privacy in institutional ethnographic research requires sensitivity to bi-lateral ethical values. With the experiences shared in this paper, we advocate for a dialogic ethical review process in qualitative research where researchers and research ethics boards engage in ongoing dialogue rather than the usual prescriptive format research ethics reviews often assume.

This study investigates research writing anxiety and self-efficacy beliefs among English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) graduate students in engineering-related fields. The relationship between the two writing affective constructs was examined and students' perspectives on research writing anxiety were also explored. A total of 218 survey responses from engineering graduate students at Taiwanese universities were analyzed, along with qualitative data from open-ended questions and semi-structured interviews. The findings show that while master's and doctoral students felt a similar moderate level of writing anxiety, senior doctoral students were more self-efficacious about writing research papers in English than their junior counterparts. Overall, students with higher writing self-efficacy felt less apprehensive. Additionally, among the individual variables, experience in writing for publication better predicted writing anxiety and self-efficacy than students' self-reported English proficiency and the number of writing courses taken. The qualitative findings indicated various sources of graduate-level writing anxiety, including insufficient writing skills in English, time constraints, and fear of negative comments. Furthermore, composing different sections of a research paper provoked different levels of anxiety due to the variations in the rhetorical purposes and discourse structures of particular sections. Implications on dealing with research writing anxiety are also discussed.

This study illustrates the ways in which the practices of two instructors in an arts-based, after-school literacy program serving Somali youth provide insights for teaching urban immigrant students. It draws on a qualitative self-study that examines the experiences and practices of the researchers in the development and implementation of a program called Pen 2 Paper 2 Power. It illuminates the difficulties of using culturally relevant pedagogy with immigrant youth, given the complexity of immigrant youth cultures, formed at the intersection of ethnic culture, youth culture, and popular culture. The research also examines the pedagogical implications of practicing culturally relevant hip-hop pedagogy with urban immigrant youth. (Contains 1 figure and 1 note.)

The main objective of this study is to compare the process of the senior secondary school mathematics curricula development in Ethiopia and Australia. The study was investigated qualitatively with document analysis and semi-structured interview research methods. The documents were collected from Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia Ministry of Education website and Australian curriculum website. The documents were analyzed and supported by interviews. The study was conducted based on four themes needs assessment, developing/writing the curriculum, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation. The study revealed both similarities and differences. The considerable differences in the senior secondary school mathematics curriculum development process are (1) emphasis given to international research results and contemporary issues on mathematics education as inputs for curriculum development (2) the underlying principle of content standard organizations (3) trialing the curriculum before implementation initiated, and (4) monitoring and evaluation strategies. Even though substantial differences exist, the similarities are (1) conducting needs assessment and (2) the adoption of the constructivism approach. Depending on the findings of the study, the suggested recommendations were presented under conclusion section.

Chinese sayings within the context of transnational education have not been extensively explored within higher education. In this qualitative study, which utilized semi-structured interviews, data were collected from 24 participants to explore their transnational study experience. Chinese sayings, framed within a rich Confucian history, provide a culturally appropriate way for participants to understand their transnational learning experience. By using Chinese sayings and metaphors, the participants found meaning in their transnational education experience for personal growth and to strengthen their communities. The article provides a discussion of implications for higher education contexts and recommendations.

This study details the procedure and results of developing a mission statement at a language institute for the purpose of obtaining a program accreditation from an international language commission. A serious self-study process results in the development of a solid, true and ambitious mission since the mission covers all areas related to achieving students learning outcomes. It shows how the mission was changed and why. It also details how the new mission resulted in the improving quality, especially in the areas of curriculum and professional development of faculty and staff. Other aspects, such as facilities and student affairs were modified to achieve the goals and objectives of the new mission. This essay reports the changes that were implemented during the process of mission statement development. These changes resulted in plans to improve the quality of the English language teaching at the English Language Academy (ELA) which offers an English language program to Foundation Year students whose success in the program is a college requirement at the University of Business and Technology (UBT) in the academic year of 2016-2017. The program also aims at improving the English language proficiency of students so that they can use it in their future professions considering that the university logo is "Education for Job Opportunities." The third main goal or aim is related to the use of English to assist students in personal and social life. Critical thinking surfaced as a main concern of those surveyed for needs assessment. The report concludes with recommending conducting thorough and genuine self-study process which certainly ends with quality improvement. The report uses data collected from five questionnaires completed by students, faculty, alumni and employers of UBT graduates. The purpose of the survey was to identify the needs of the students. Based on those needs, the learning outcomes are identified and accordingly, the new mission statement is developed.

Objective: To explore the barriers associated with the adoption of the Alberta Nutrition Guidelines for Children and Youth in schools according to characteristics of the innovation (guidelines) and the organization (schools). Design: Cross-sectional telephone survey. Setting and Participants: Schools in Alberta, Canada. Principals from 357 schools. Main Outcome Measure: Barriers to adopting the nutrition guidelines. Analysis: A 19-question telephone survey, including open- and closed-ended questions, was used to obtain information regarding schools' characteristics and barriers to adopting the guidelines. Qualitative data were coded according to common themes a priori, based on constructs from the Diffusion of Innovations framework. Results: Schools reported many barriers related to the relative advantage, compatibility, and complexity of adopting the guidelines. Parents' resistance to change and cost were the key reported barriers. Lack of knowledge, student preferences, the physical location of the school, and barriers related to the provision of healthful food were also reported. Conclusions and Implications: Disseminating guidelines without providing adequate support for their implementation may not promote change within the school setting. School nutrition initiatives need to involve the parents and have access to sufficient financial and human resource support. (Contains 4 tables.)

The Common Core State Standards Initiative seeks to prepare all students to graduate high school without remedial needs, to improve transparency across states' accountability systems, and to foster efficiencies in the development and distribution of educational resources. The reform was adopted in more than 40 states and has been described as state-led. We examined federal and philanthropic funding for the reform through a conceptual lens of resource dependence theory. Our document analyses surfaced eight pathways along which funding for the Common Core traveled into, through, and around the public education system. We consider clusters of pathways according to their purposes and the consequences of such clustering for the reform. We conclude by discussing benefits derived from this funding for different types of entities that grant and receive it.

This study examined the effects of an expressive writing intervention on male, juvenile offenders' (n=25) psychological and emotional well being. Using a quasi-experimental design, participants were assigned to one of three writing conditions and were instructed to write for 15 minutes for five consecutive days about one of the following topics: their future life goals, things in their life for which they wished to express gratitude, or their plans for the following day. Baseline and post- intervention measures of life satisfaction, optimism, and mood were completed by youth in all writing conditions. The results revealed that improvements in optimism and mood scores occurred in all writing groups, but no group exhibited significant change on the life satisfaction measure. A qualitative analysis of the youth's daily written entries (n=102) was conducted and revealed the presence of several dominant themes in the youth's writings. The themes, and their relevance for staff working with youth residing in a group home setting, are discussed. The findings from this study suggest that expressive writing techniques hold promise for correctional staff and educators seeking affordable means of improving adolescents' level of optimism and positive mood. Future research could examine whether improvements in hopefulness and mood might lead to positive changes on other psychological measures, and perhaps, even on behavioral outcomes, such as academic performance. (Contains 1 table.)

Our study compared the quantitative and qualitative outcomes associated with course evaluations collected over the Internet with those collected using a paper-and-pencil method. We randomly assigned students to 1 of the 2 different formats. There was no significant difference in quantitative student responses based on administration method, but students who completed evaluations over the Internet were more likely to give qualitative feedback compared to students who completed their evaluations in the classroom. Moreover, students in the Web-based condition provided longer qualitative comments than students in the paper-and-pencil group. We discuss the implications of these findings.

Present-day curricular designs have to take the pupils' psychological needs in account, thus becoming melodies of mental health and happiness for the next generation. Emphasizing the findings from previous investigations using the research synthesis methodology, the present study has been conducted aiming at achieving some integrative knowledge under the inclusive title of "Mental Health Improvement-based Curricular Content." Goal-oriented homogeneous sampling method was applied in order to select 100 research papers from Iranian scholars on the subject of pupils' mental health improvement using accredited databases between 2005 and 2016. Data analysis using open subject coding encompassing three stages, namely open, axial, and selective coding, indicated that a curriculum with contents in two overall categories of mental health literacy (optimism and positive thinking; socialization; monotheistic life; happiness; self-efficacy; self-awareness and self-actualization & …) and mental health skills (emotions management, interpersonal communication, critical thinking, adaptability, tolerance, and finally & …) has to be designed in order to improve the pupils' mental health.

The paper focuses on the university academic excellence projects worldwide and tries to explore the higher education institutions experience and trends regarding their language policies within the international landscape and increasing globalisation. The article agrees that English goes as a major medium of instruction at universities that strive for reaching higher positions in world university rankings and takes into account the UNESCO traditions related to language diversity and multilingual education development, as well. The research focuses on language policy issues as language has always been a tool to create, deliver and process knowledge within, across and beyond local and national communities toward the global scale. The study took into account the experience of national academic excellence projects across the world, tried to identify those language challenges that the Russian universities as members of the Russian national academic excellence project are currently facing. The research goal was to map those changes and shifts in the language policies of Russian higher education institutions that could help them boost their academic visibility internationally. The methodology rested on the qualitative analysis of national education programmes, universities' action plans, data on Russian universities strategies and tactics regarding language issues.

This methodological guidance paper discusses the craft of reviewing qualitative research for a systematic review. Qualitative research is an expansive and wide-ranging domain that includes research from different disciplines, for different purposes, following different methodological traditions, and employing a variety of data collection and analysis methods. While many aspects of reviewing qualitative research are similar to reviewing quantitative research, the essay focuses on five central tasks: (1) clarifying purpose(s), (2) defining research quality, (3) situating the research in relevant contexts, (4) adding it up, and (5) practicing reflexivity—that every reviewer of qualitative research engages in. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines higher education in Afghanistan. Based on qualitative research, including interviews with key policymakers and stakeholders, the paper examines the primary issues, challenges, progress, and future vision for higher education in the country. The research reveals that one of the most significant issues in the country in the post-Taliban era is female participation in higher education. It also shows the importance of alternative forms of higher education, such as two-year institutions, private education, and technical/ vocational education. The paper also discusses the emergence of quality assurance mechanisms and international partnerships with other universities. Regarding the future direction and vision for higher education, the paper reveals two primary focuses: preparing students for the labor market, and the potential for education to influence democratic values and social cohesion in a divided country.

The purpose of this study was to examine how prospective middle school science teachers understood and identified types of scientific knowledge in a presented vignette. Also, their definitions and views of the relationships between types of scientific knowledge (i.e. scientific facts, concepts, generalizations, theories, and scientific laws) were investigated through open-ended questions. Additionally, participants were given the Nature of Scientific Knowledge Scale (NSKS) after they responded to the open-ended questions. Therefore both qualitative and quantitative data were obtained about their understandings and views about scientific knowledge. Thirty-six participants responded the questionnaires at the end of the spring semester 2005. During this semester participants were in their junior year and enrolled in a "history and nature of science" course in which 16th and 17th century scientific revolution and the historical background leading to those developments were discussed. Participants received no specific instruction about the definitions of types of scientific knowledge like theories and laws. Analysis of the quantitative data obtained via NSKS show that participants hold a view favoring the tentativeness of scientific knowledge and mostly appreciate the developmental nature of science. While, on the other hand, analysis of the qualitative data obtained through the open-ended questions illustrate that participants hold a stepwise development view in science assigning the tentativeness in science to theories and lower steps. Overwhelmingly they emphasize that scientific laws reflect proven truth and in a sense absolute. These findings show the usefulness of utilizing appropriate vignettes for probing views. The results are discussed in the light of existing literature and implications are provided.

Introduction: Advancements in evaluating the impact of participatory health research (PHR) have been made through comprehensive models like the community-based participatory research (CBPR) conceptual model, which provides a useful framework for exploring how context and partnership processes can influence health research design and interventions. However, challenges in operationalising aspects of the model limit our understanding and evaluation of the PHR process. Trust is frequently identified as an important component of the CBPR model, which supports the development of key partnership outcomes, such as partnership synergy. However, trust continues to be limited to a binary view (as present or absent), which is problematic given its inherently dynamic and temporal nature., Study Aim: The aim of this qualitative study is to understand the evolution of trust in the national public and patient involvement (PPI) network in Ireland., Setting and Participants: Participants from the PPI network (n = 15/21) completed a semistructured interview discussing the evolution of trust by reviewing four social network maps derived from a previous longitudinal study., Analysis: Following Braun and Clarke, we used reflexive thematic analysis, to iteratively develop, analyse and interpret our mediated reflection of the data., Results: Participants described the evolution of trust as a function of three contextual factors: (1) the set-up and organisation of the network, (2) how people work together and (3) reflection on the process and outcomes. Their descriptions across these themes seemed to vary depending on partnership type with National Partners and Site Leads having more opportunities to demonstrate trust (e.g., via leadership roles or more resources), compared to Local. Thus, visibility and the opportunity to be visible, depending on the set-up and organisation of the network and how people work together, seemingly play an important role in the evolution of trust over time. Based on these findings, we provide important questions for reflection across themes that could be considered for future PHR partnerships., Discussion: Given that the opportunity and visibility to build and maintain trust over time may not be equally available to all partners, it is important to find ways to invest in and commit to equitable relationships as the key to the success (i.e., longevity) of partnerships. We reflect on/offer important implications for those engaging in PHR partnerships and those who fund such research., Patient or Public Contribution: A Research Advisory Group comprising four research partners (representing academic, service and community organisations) from the PPI Ignite Network provided input and approval for the research objectives of this study as well as previously published work informing this study. Informal consultation occurred with members of this group to discuss findings from this study, assisting with the way findings are presented and described, to be accessible for diverse audiences. Two Research Advisory Group members were involved in the interpretation of the results, and one is a co-author of this manuscript (Zoe Hughes)., (© 2023 The Authors. Health Expectations published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Background: This is the second part of a 3-part discussion paper by the working group on "Qualitative Methods" in the German network of health services research (DNVF) that shall contribute to the development of a memorandum concerning qualitative health services research. It aims to depict the different types of qualitative research that are conducted in health services research in Germany. In addition, the authors present a specific set of qualitative data collection and analysis tools to demonstrate the potential of qualitative research for health services research. QUALITATIVE RESEARCH IN HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH - AN OVERVIEW: To give an overview of the types of qualitative research conducted in German health services research, the abstracts of the 8th German Conference on Health Services Research were filtered to identify qualitative or mixed-methods studies. These were then analysed by looking at the context which was studied, who was studied, the aims of the studies, and what type of methods were used. Those methods that were mentioned most often for data collection and analysis are described in detail. QUALITATIVE RESEARCH AT THE CONFERENCE FOR HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH 2009: Approximately a fifth of all abstracts (n=74) had a qualitative (n=47) or a mixed-methods approach combining quantitative and qualitative methods (n=27). Research aims included needs assessment (41%), survey development (36%), evaluation (22%), and theorizing (1%). Data collection mostly consisted of one-on-one interviews (n=45) and group discussions (n=29). Qualitative content analysis was named in 35 abstracts, 30 abstracts did not reference their method of analysis. In addition to a quantitative summary of the abstract findings, the diversity of fields addressed by qualitative methods is highlighted., Conclusion: Although drawing conclusions on the use of qualitative methods in German health services research from the analysis of conference abstracts is not possible, the overview we present demonstrates the diversity of methods used for data collection and analysis and showed that a few select methods are extensively used. One of the tasks a memorandum of qualitative health services research should accomplish is to highlight underutilized research methods, which may help to develop the potential of qualitative methodology in German health services research., (© Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.)

In this first part of a 3-part discussion paper the working group "Qualitative Methods" in the German Network of Health Services Research (DNVF) identifies the potentials and opportunities qualitative research methods provide for health services research. Many research questions relevant for health services research require the use of qualitative methods. However, the potential of and need for qualitative research in health services research has not yet received sufficient attention from funding bodies. We discuss the applicability and importance of qualitative research for the field of health services research. We then move on to describe the key characteristics of qualitative research that need to be taken into account in health services research. We discuss characteristics such as open-ended (qualitative) data, interpretation of meanings, the search for contradictions, closeness to everyday life, openness towards change or modification of the research question and processes in the context of health services research. To ensure a high-quality approach in qualitative methods for the health services research, sufficient competency in methods and appropriate settings that account for the peculiarities of qualitative methods need to be developed. These include an appropriate time frame and sufficient and qualified personnel to conduct qualitative research. Qualitative research is not a research paradigm in itself rather it comprises of many different and diverging approaches. The goal of this paper is to show the diversity of qualitative research methods, its importance for health services research, and to open up the discussion on strategies for integrating qualitative methods into health services research., (© Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.)

Accreditation has become an important issue in Spain. This paper presents an overview of Spain's accreditation system; a system which is relatively new and has evolved rapidly, fostered by legislative mandates which established accreditation bodies to regulate the quality of higher education institutions. One of the initial challenges faced by accrediting agencies and universities in Spain was the need for a national curricular reform to transform the degree offerings across the country to match with the new European degree system. Discussion about the emergence of the accreditation system and the experiences of accreditors and academics during the nationwide curricular reform are included.

This paper is a discussion of the importance of choosing appropriate methodologies to research the breastfeeding experience of women in the United Kingdom. Despite a plethora of research emphasising the benefits of breastfeeding to maternal and infant health, there is a relative dearth of research from the United Kingdom about women's experiences of breastfeeding. In order to understand the inherent complexities of successfully promoting and supporting breastfeeding, a mothers' breastfeeding experience must be examined within her specific context. This is increasingly recognised as a vital tool in providing effective support by health care professionals in extending breastfeeding duration. As such, this highlights the importance that appropriate methodologies are chosen through which to explore this phenomenon from the perspective of those experiencing it. This paper debates the importance of philosophical lines of enquiry in relation to breastfeeding research, and argues that engaging with ontological perspectives would offer opportunities for researchers to engage with women's understanding of breastfeeding in today's society. A hermeneutic phenomenological approach that is informed from feminist methodologies is deemed the most appropriate in researching mothers' views of breastfeeding.