Using Generative AI for Qualitative Coding

The purpose of this paper is discussing the main issues in conceptualizing reliability and validity between qualitative and quantitative research approaches. The researcher examined the arguments about validity and reliability in inquiry methodology and identified three main debates primarily in qualitative research. The first one was about qualitative inquirers’ limited emphasis on the data collection process to increase the robustness of their research efforts. Most of the strategies in qualitative research (e.g. peer debriefing, member check, audit trail) are used after completing the data collection procedures. Another important discussion in social inquiry was about what valid research means in qualitative paradigm. There are various interpretations of what validity is in qualitative research. This is due to epistemological grounds of qualitative research. Qualitative research does not accept a single truth. Reality is not fixed in qualitative research. It is concerned with cooperation of the multiple constructed realities to reach the contextual truth. The third debate reported in the literature was the discussion about reliability in qualitative research. It is evident that replication of any qualitative methods will not release the same results due to changing contextual conditions. Even though reliability has a long history in inquiry methodology discussions, some qualitative inquirers claim that reliability is not an appropriate concept for qualitative inquiry.

© 2020 Elsevier Ltd Qualitative researchers in information management research often need to evaluate inter-coder reliability (ICR) to test the trustworthiness of their content analysis. A suitable method of evaluating ICR enables researchers to rigorously assess the degree of agreement among two or more independent qualitative coders. This allows researchers to identify mistakes in the content analysis before the codes are used in developing and testing a theory or a measurement model and avoid any associated time, effort and financial cost. Different methods have been proposed, but little guidance is available on which approach to evaluating ICR should be used. In this paper, we review and compare leading ICR methods that are suitable for qualitative information management research. We propose an approach for selecting and using an ICR method, supported by an illustrative example. The five steps in our proposed approach include: selecting an ICR method based on its characteristics and requirements of a project; developing a coding scheme; selecting and training independent coders; calculating the ICR coefficient and resolving discrepancies; and reporting the process of evaluating ICR and its results.

Who is sensitising whom? A participatory interview guide development as an awareness tool within a health care research project

The global medical and nursing research community has increasingly embraced qualitative research approaches, recognizing the additional benefits they provide to the investigation process. Qualitative research explores the intricate details of human behavior, attitudes, and experiences, emphasizing the exploration of nuances and context. Ensuring trustworthiness is crucial in establishing the credibility and reliability of qualitative findings. This includes elements such as credibility, transferability, dependability, and confirmability. Several papers have discussed concerns regarding the rigor of qualitative health services research and have provided guidelines and checklists for publishing and conducting qualitative research. The key criteria for ensuring the quality of qualitative research include credibility, achieved through extended involvement, persistent observation, and triangulation; transferability, achieved through comprehensive and detailed explanations; dependability, achieved through rigorous documentation and the creation of an audit trail; and confirmability, achieved through peer debriefing, member checking, and reflexive journaling. Establishing reliability in qualitative research is crucial for influencing future research paths and advancing cumulative knowledge. Trustworthy qualitative research findings are also important for informing policy decisions and improving the provision of services in various fields. While qualitative research has limitations, such as subjectivity and resource constraints, the methodical application of measures to ensure trustworthiness greatly enhances the precision and reliability of qualitative research. These measures also encourage transparency and critical evaluation by the scholarly community.

The purpose of this focused issue is to advance understanding of qualitative research methods in the international business context. Debates on qualitative research methods in the key international business (IB) journals have been rare. There has been no focused issue on this topic previously, either in mir or in other journals in the field, making this a 'special' issue. During the process of editing a recent handbook on qualitative research methods (Marschan-Piekkari/Welch 2004), we realized that while this collection covered many topics, often for the first time in the IB field, there were many others still outstanding. There was thus scope for continuing a dialogue about qualitative methods in the IB research community. The challenge of making qualitative research count in the quantitative world of IB remains. Qualitative research is difficult to define, since the term encompasses many different research traditions, research strategies and methods for data collection and analysis (Prasad 2005). A typical definition is that everything non-numerical is qualitative research (Marschan-Piekkari/Welch 2004, p. 19). However, even this very simplistic definition soon breaks down, since research strategies which are typically considered to be qualitative, such as case studies, can combine numerical with non-numerical data (Hurmerinta-Peltomaki/Nummela 2004). There is also no clear divide between qualitative and quantitative research in terms of research traditions, with much qualitative research in management and IB sharing the positivist assumptions of quantitative research (Prasad/Prasad 2002). This focused issue is not about reporting the empirical findings of IB studies applying qualitative methods; rather it is about the process of undertaking qualitative research in the IB field. Of course, there is a large volume of literature on qualitative research methods already. However, we would argue that the IB context warrants special treatment. As the authors of this focused issue discuss, the distinctiveness of the field stems from its multiple linguistic and cultural settings; organizational complexity; and its intellectual roots in post-War academic institutions in the USA. These issues receive little treatment in general texts on qualitative methodology. There has been some methodological debate in previous issues of mir. Earlier articles in mircan be grouped into three categories: first, reviews of existing methodological practices in IB publications (e.g., Cavusgil/Das 1997, Nasif et al. 1991); second, proposals for new quantitative techniques (e.g., the use of key informants in cross-cultural studies, as proposed by Lenartowicz and Roth 2004 and a linguistic-based measure of cultural distance as developed by West and Graham 2004); and third, calls for new methodological approaches (Boddewyn/Iyer 1999). The absence of qualitative research methods in this debate perhaps reflects the limited amount of empirical qualitative research published in this journal. A recent analysis of mir issues between 1990 and 1999 revealed that only 5 percent of articles published in this period used qualitative methods (Welch/Welch 2004). This focused issue is therefore a response to those, such as Boddewyn and Iyer (1999) in this journal, who have called for alternatives to surveys and secondary data analysis. This focused issue attracted 39 submissions from more than 15 countries. Given that there have been limited outlets for methodological articles in IB, this is a considerable number. It perhaps suggests a level of interest to which IB journals have not responded to date. Of the total number of submissions, 11 were selected for review. On the basis of reviewers' comments, six of these papers were ultimately rejected. The final five papers underwent two and, in some cases, up to four rounds of revisions. In selecting the articles, we used the following criteria: appropriateness of the topic for the focused issue; demonstrated knowledge of IB and methodological literature; quality of argument; originality and innovativeness of the contribution to IB methodology; organization and clarity of the paper; and potential application to research practice in IB. …

Qualitative and mixed methods research in trials

BackgroundTelementorship has emerged as an innovative strategy to decentralise medical knowledge and increase healthcare capacity across a wide range of disease processes. We report the global experience with telementorship to support healthcare workers delivering hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) care and treatment.MethodsIn early 2020, we conducted a survey of HBV and HCV telementorship programmes, followed by an in-depth interview with programme leads. Programmes were eligible to participate if they were located outside of the United States (U.S.), focused on support to healthcare workers in management of HBV and/or HCV, and were affiliated with or maintained adherence to the Project ECHO model, a telementorship programme pioneered at the University of New Mexico. One programme in the U.S., focused on HCV treatment in the Native American community, was purposively sampled and invited to participate. Surveys were administered online, and all qualitative interviews were performed remotely. Descriptive statistics were calculated for survey responses, and qualitative interviews were assessed for major themes.ResultsEleven of 18 eligible programmes completed the survey and follow up interview. Sixty-four percent of programmes were located at regional academic medical centers. The majority of programmes (64%) were led by hepatologists. Most programmes (82%) addressed both HBV and HCV, and the remainder focused on HCV only. The median number of participating clinical spoke sites per programme was 22, and most spoke site participants were primary care providers. Most ECHO sessions were held monthly (36%) or bimonthly (27%), with sessions ranging from 45 min to 2 h in length. Programme leaders identified collective learning, empowerment and collaboration to be key strengths of their telementorship programme, while insufficient funding and a lack of protected time for telementorship leaders and participants were identified as major barriers to success.ConclusionThe Project ECHO model for telementorship can be successfully implemented across high and low-and-middle-income countries to improve provider knowledge and experience in management of viral hepatitis. There is a tremendous opportunity to further expand upon the existing experience with telementorship to support non-specialist healthcare workers and promote elimination of viral hepatitis.

Purpose: Retinoblastoma is the most common primary intraocular tumour in children. Its prognosis varies depending on the stage of diagnosis. However, in developing countries such as Indonesia, retinoblastoma still has a poor prognosis as most patients present at advanced stages. This research aims to explore the factors influencing the delay in patients with retinoblastoma reaching referral health facilities from the perspective of their families. Methods: A qualitative study using a phenomenological approach was conducted to gather family perspectives through in-depth interviews via WhatsApp calls. Each interview lasted 20-25 minutes and included families of retinoblastoma patients who had visited the eye clinic at Sardjito General Hospital at a late hour. “Late” was defined as tumour spread beyond the eyeball (intraorbital, spread to the optic nerve, or intracranial spread) or involvement of more than one eye. Audio was transcribed verbatim using a mobile phone voice recorder, and open coding was performed using Open Code 4.02 software to identify meaning units, codes, and categories. Triangulation and peer debriefing were used to ensure validity and trustworthiness. Results: Several categories emerged, including reasons for seeking help, trust in medical professionals, family compassion, and challenges in health facilities. Challenges in health facilities, particularly diagnostic capabilities, communication, and education about eye tumours, along with negative emotions like denial from families, contributed to delays in seeking treatment for retinoblastoma patients. Conclusion: Family compassion plays a positive role in encouraging families to seek medical help. However, challenges in health facilities, particularly in diagnosis, communication, and education about eye tumors, as well as family denial, contribute to the delays in retinoblastoma patients reaching referral health facilities.

Qualitative and Mixed Methods Research in Cross-Cultural Psychology

Introduction: Digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) may decrease recall rates (RRs) and improve positive predictive values (PPVs) and cancer detection rates (CDRs) versus full-field digital mammography (FFDM). The value of DBT has not been assessed in New Mexico's rural and minority population. Objectives of this study were to compare RRs, CDRs, and PPVs using FFDM+DBT versus FFDM in screening mammograms at the University of New Mexico between 2013 and 2016 and to qualitatively evaluate patient decision-making regarding DBT. Materials and Methods: RRs, CDRs, and PPVs with 95% confidence intervals and relative risk were calculated from 35,147 mammograms. The association between relative risk and mammography approach was tested using Pearson's chi-square test. Twenty women undergoing screening were interviewed for qualitative evaluation of decision-making. Results: From 2013 to 2016, RRs were 8.4% and 11.1% for FFDM+DBT and FFDM, respectively. The difference in RRs became more pronounced with time. No significant difference was observed in PPVs or CDRs. Qualitative interviews revealed that the majority had limited prior knowledge of DBT and relied on provider recommendations. Conclusion: In New Mexico women undergoing screening mammography, a 30% relative risk reduction in RRs was observed with FFDM+DBT. Qualitative interviews suggest that women are aware of and receptive to DBT, assuming adequate educational support. Clinical Trials.gov ID: NCT03979729.

The aim of this study is to understand initial qualitative research experience and the qualitative researcher identities they try to build via diaries they reflect. This research is a analytical research model. Research data were obtained 25 diaries which were selected by criterion sampling from 60 doctoral students' diaries that they wrote in qualitative research methods course between the years 2008 and 2014. Content analysis was applied to the data. As a result of the analysis, "becoming a qualitative researcher" category which consists of "I learned from my experiences", "I discovered my researcher identity", and "I discovered myself" have emerged. I learned from my experiences themes that compose "I learned from my mistakes", "I read, implemented, reflected", and found out that "I realized that I wasn't a qualitative researcher." I discovered my researcher identity theme includes subthemes such as "I should be open-minded", "I should try to understand", and "I should be patient." I discovered myself theme consists of subthemes such as "I realized my prejudices", "I learned criticizing myself", and "I saw the limits of my abilities." It has emerged that researcher diaries are functional tools to understand the research experiences of PhD students. Therefore, doctoral students can be encouraged to write diaries in the research process.

Qualitative research has an important place within evidence-based health care (EBHC), contributing to policy on patient safety and quality of care, supporting understanding of the impact of chronic illness, and...

This study examined the extent to which time management skills employed by research supervisors enhance the completion of postgraduate students’ research process in universities, of the Northern Zone, Tanzania. Anchored in Face-to-Face Interactive Dissertation Supervision Theory proposed by Wang and Li in 2011, the study employed a convergent design under the mixed-methods research approach. The target population of 1454 including 6 Directors of postgraduate studies, 14 heads of departments, 175 supervisors, 390 PhD continuing students, 635 masters continuing students, 84 PhD alumni, and 150 masters alumni, to make a total of 214 respondents sampled through probability and non-probability techniques. Questionnaires, interview guides, and document analysis guides used to collect data were validated by three research experts from the Faculty of Education at MWECAU. The Cronbach Alpha method and peer debriefing were employed to determine the reliability of questionnaires and interview guides respectively. Quantitative data were descriptively analysed, while qualitative data were thematically summarized and presented in direct quotations. It was found that time management skills are deployed to a moderate extent by supervisors to stir up postgraduate students' research process. The study revealed further that students’ delays are often due to supervisors' feedback taking longer than expected, low levels of supervisor-student cooperation, and supervisors not being reachable and not present during consultation hours. The study concluded that supervisors differ in their approaches to time management practices in stimulating and accelerating postgraduate students' research process across universities. The study recommended that universities should regularly provide supervisors and postgraduate students with time management training so that the research process can be completed on schedule.

Although some of the literature on teaching qualitative research methods courses has included students' experiences during courses, these experiences have not been made a primary focus of study and examined systematically. To gain a fuller understanding of students' experiences during a graduate-level qualitative methods course, 13 reflective journals were analyzed. Eight major categories emerged from the analysis: (a) struggling with a new paradigm, (b) changes in perspective on quantitative research, (c) struggling with phenomenological and other qualitative concepts and practices, (d) becoming more aware of one's role in the research process, (e) challenges faced during the research process, (f) gaining new insights into the research process, (g) gaining new insights into phenomenology and the qualitative paradigm, and (h) valuing phenomenological and other forms of qualitative research. Implications of the findings for designing and teaching qualitative methods courses are also discussed.

The vast majority of radiography research is subject to critique and evaluation from peers in order to justify the method and the outcome of the study. Within the quantitative domain, which the majority of medical imaging publications tend to fall into, there are prescribed methods for establishing scientific rigour and quality in order to critique a study. However, researchers within the qualitative paradigm, which is a developing area of radiography research, are often unclear about the most appropriate methods to measure the rigour (standards and quality) of a research study. This article considers the issues related to rigour, reliability and validity within qualitative research. The concepts of reliability and validity are briefly discussed within traditional positivism and then the attempts to use these terms as a measure of quality within qualitative research are explored. Alternative methods for research rigour in interpretive research (meanings and emotions) are suggested in order to compliment the existing radiography framework that exists for qualitative studies. The authors propose the use of an established model that is adapted to reflect the iterative process of qualitative research. Although a mechanistic approach to establishing rigour is rejected by many qualitative researchers, it is argued that a guide for novice researchers within a developing research base such as radiography is appropriate in order to establish the credibility and trustworthiness of a qualitative study.