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NUR 351 - Introduction to Nursing Research

Qualitative Research

Setting: Natural environment

Samples: Small groups or individuals

Data: Observational texts, notes, interviews

Interventions: None--looking for themes

Examples: Ethnography, biography, phenomenology, case study, grounded theory, case report, lived experience

What to look for: Interviews, open-ended questions, experiences, research gathered through observation and interviews, coding

The following is an example of the terms you can put in your search to limit to Qualitative Articles:

(Qualitative OR Naturalistic OR Ethnography OR Phenomenology OR  Grounded Theory OR Experience OR Thematic)

This system isn’t perfect!  You’ll still need to look at the Methods and Data Analysis/Results sections of the articles you find to make sure you have a truly quantitative study

Also, check your article closely to see if you found a Mixed Methods study.  These types of study include both quantitative and qualitative methods.

If you want to limit your search to qualitative studies, first try "qualitative" as a keyword, then try using one of the following terms/phrases in your search (example: lactation AND focus group):

  • ethnography
  • "case study"
  • "focus group"
  • interview
  • "oral history"
  • phenomenology
  • "participant observation"
  • "content analysis"
  • experiential
  • "grounded theory"
  •  ethnonurs*
  •  "grounded theor*"
  •  "purposive sample"
  •  hermeneutic*
  •  heuristic*
  •  semiotics
  •  "lived experience*"
  •  narrative*
  • "life experiences"
  •  "cluster sample"
  •  "action research"
  •  "observational method"
  •  "content analysis"
  •  "thematic analysis"
  •  "constant comparative method"
  •  "field stud*"
  • "theoretical sample"
  •  "discourse analysis"
  •  focus group*
  •  ethnological research
  •  ethnomethodolog*.

Books