Qualitative_Analysis

I. Introduction and Purpose The following analysis and critique presented will be to evaluate a qualitative study that was performed by Mary Crowe accompanied by other colleagues on the topic of chronic low back pain and the impact it has on people. The topic and purpose of this study was clearly stated throughout the article and was stated towards the beginning with a clear statement which read “The aim was to investigate peoples’ experiences of the impact of chronic low back pain” (Crowe, 2009). As you continue reading further, the abstract in the article indicates that the study not only examines back pain, but also provides specific causes and symptoms that are associated to chronic low back pain. Based on the information this article provides, it can be suggested that the article will be a valuable contribution to research within the nursing field. II. Review of the Literature In order to set up the study in a successful and efficient way, the authors provided a large amount of background literature which aides to the study of back pain. The research article utilized written work by authors Holloway and Walker to demonstrate several studies in regards to back pain. In addition, studies that had previously been conducted which consisted of a number of people who suffer with chronic back pain contributed to the background research that was utilized for this particular study. Other areas of research that were explored in this study were several areas that related to nursing practice such as preventative care and health promotion, also alternative treatments and physical therapy to name a few. III. Study Design As we know there are several different study designs that could be used when conducting research. For this particular study, since the interest of the researchers was to gather data from people to form a conclusion, it can be said that the grounded theory method was used. Grounded theory is a qualitative research technique that begins with collecting data and then uses that data to create a theory. With grounded theory, you cannot begin with a theory before you analyze the data because a theory cannot be created without first analyzing the data through inductive and deductive reasoning. In this article, the researchers aim and purpose was to obtain more information and not to prove whether a hypothesis was right or wrong. The researchers made clear that their main purpose was to contribute to the medical community through finding better treatments and alternative methods to help chronic back pain sufferer’s deal with their condition. In concluding the article, the authors stated “Nurses may be able to improve the quality of life for those people with chronic lower back pain by exploring the meanings that it has for the person affected” (Crowe, 2009). This suggests that they also wanted to incorporate ways in which practicing nurses would be able to contribute and make a difference to improve their patients’ quality of life and that by understanding more about the individual’s lifestyle and what triggers their pain, nursing can put more focus on the prevention of pain in the future and lead towards better health promotion. IV. Methods The researchers for this study decided to use semi-structured interviews using a qualitative approach to complete their research. This allowed them to obtain and gather personalized data of how each participant is impacted by chronic lower back pain. Through this form of research, the authors were able to gather personalized data about chronic lower back pain. Each interview was conducted by an experienced research assistant who was specifically trained in conducting qualitative interviews and was supervised and taped by another investigator to ensure that proper and appropriate procedure was followed throughout the process. The participants were asked to share their personal experiences with chronic lower back pain including things such as causes, triggers, and ways in which they manage it on a daily basis. The data is then analyzed for obvious trends and conclusions that can be helpful in providing the study with more information. The researchers then separated their findings into four different categories: “the unpredictability of the pain, the need for vigilance, the externalization/objectification of the body, and the alteration to sense of self (Crowe, 2009)”. By using these four categories, the researchers were able to identify different ways in which the information could contribute to the practice of nursing. V. Sampling Sampling is a very important step in the world of research and for this particular study in order to ensure that the data gathered from the interviews performed was valuable and without redundancies, careful sampling was performed. Before the recruitment for the study could begin, ethical approval had to be obtained from the New Zealand Ministry of Health, Upper South A Regional Ethics Committee. All participants were given a written information sheet explaining the study in detail and were required to provide written informed consent prior to participation. According to the research article, the involved participants consisted of 64 individuals who all suffered from chronic low back pain defined as: “pain, muscle tension, or stiffness localized below the costal margin and above the inferior gluteal folds, with or without leg pain (sciatica) persisting for longer than 12 weeks (Crowe, 2009)”. There were 31 females and 31 males in the sample and they had an average age of 55.1 years with ages ranging from 25 to 80 years of age. All individuals who participated in this study were voluntary and were recruited by either responding to an article looking for participants or through a physiotherapy clinic. The demographics used in this study were effective because it did represent a wide range of ages and used an equal male to female ratio, eliminating the possible false representation of lower back pain among a specific gender. VI. Data Collection and Analysis As we discussed earlier, all data in this study was collected using face to face semi-structured interviews conducted with the voluntary participants who were asked questions regarding their personal experiences with chronic low back pain. As we also mentioned earlier, all individuals who participated gave informed consent and data collection itself was performed without any researcher biases. With the information obtained from the interviews, that information was then transcribed so that a thematic analysis to explore key themes could be conducted. “This process entailed the identification of patterns in the data obtained, the classification of these patterns which are then interpreted, named and described as a theme (Crowe, 2009)”. VIII. Conclusion The research performed by these authors contributes a great deal to not only nursing but also the community because chronic lower back pain is such a common ailment that affects many individuals on an everyday basis. When it comes to nurses being able to help individuals deal with this chronic condition, it was concluded that nurses can explore patterns associated with what triggers the individuals’ pain and help the person develop more of a sense of predictability and control. With a chronic condition, nurses should no longer be focusing on treatments, but rather focusing on ways to improve quality of lives to help people live and function to the best of their ability. The conclusions and recommendations within this qualitative study were very appropriate for the interview data sets which were found during the research process and contributes a great deal of valuable information that can be used within the practice of nursing. References Crowe, M., Whitehead, L., Gagan, M.J., Baxter, D.G., & Pankhurst, A. (2009). Listening to the body and talking to myself – the impact of chronic lower back pain: a qualitative study. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 47(5), 586-592.