Data Collection

In-depth interviews or unstructured interviewing are the best methods for investigating sensitive topics (Elam and Fenton, 2003). Due to the sensitive data content to be explored, focus groups would not have been appropriate as it may have been too upsetting to discuss issues in front of other carers.

From a Critical Realist perspective the researcher wanted to understand the informal carer’s views (providing further information and clarification around the context and mechanisms involved) of the lived experience of the event (outcome), that would not have been possible from quantitative data alone.

In order to fully achieve the study objectives the researcher felt that in-depth interviews with carers of PwP who had gone into a care home placement would be the most effective research method. This method for qualitative data collection would fit into the convergent mixed method design whilst reinforcing a Critical Realist approach for understanding causation. When undertaking any type of qualitative study there are usually a set of core

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characteristics that define qualitative research that are followed, as shown in Table 4.6 (adapted from Creswell, 2014a, and Marshall and Rossman, 2011, and Hatch 2002).

4.7.2 Sampling

One challenge with qualitative research is the sample size, which means what is the number of participants required to take part in a qualitative study, and there is no specific answer to this question (Creswell, 2014a, pg 158).

Creswell (2014a, pg 158) does try and quantify this by suggesting the number of participants depends on the type of qualitative study design, although this is less clear within a mixed methods study. The other approach to sample size is the idea of saturation, which originally stems from grounded theory (Charmaz, 2006). This states you should stop collecting data when the categories (or new themes) are saturated and when gathering fresh data no longer sparks any new insights or reveals any new properties.

Within the PD Service there are approximately 20 – 30 PwP and related conditions being admitted to a permanent care home placement each year. It was unknown how many PwP would go into a care home during the study period, and of those, how many had agreed to take part in the Care Home Study and had an informal carer that would agree to be interviewed. The researcher felt that using saturation to dictate sample size was not

appropriate as it was unclear as to which types of informal carers could be recruited to this part of the study in the recruitment period.

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The Characteristic of Qualitative Research This Study

Natural setting: Qualitative researchers collect data in the field at the site where participants experience the issue or problem under study; they are not seen in a ‘lab’.

Information is gathered by directly talking to people and seeing them behave and acting within their context is a major characteristic of qualitative research.

Carers would be seen at a location of their choice.

Researcher as key instrument:

Qualitative researchers collect data themselves through interviewing

participants. They do not tend to rely on questionnaires or other instruments.

The researcher would conduct a face to face interview using an interview schedule developed by the researcher.

Inductive and deductive data analysis:

Qualitative researchers build their patterns, categories, and themes from the bottom up by organising the data into increasingly more abstracts units of information. Often the process begins with inductive thinking but deductive thinking also plays an important role as the analysis moves forward.

The researcher used a combination of deductive and abductive reasoning to explain patterns of data and identify and establish issues of causation.

Participants meanings:

Through the research process the researcher remains focused on learning the meaning that the participants hold about the issue or problem, not the meaning the researcher brings to the research.

Analysing the data on a semantic level, and not trying to make inferences from the data meant the researcher was staying ‘true’ to participant’s meanings.

Emergent design:

This process can be described as emergent as the initial plan for the research cannot be tightly prescribed, as some phases of the process may change or shift after the researcher enters the field and begins to collect data.

At the beginning of the study it was

unknown who would be interviewed and the types of carer that could or would be

involved in this part of the study.

Reflexivity:

In qualitative research the inquirer reflects about how their role in the study and their personal background, culture and experiences hold potential for shaping their interpretations, such as the themes and the meaning they ascribe to the data.

The researcher needed to fully understand their role as practitioner-researcher and the influence this would have throughout the study.

Holistic account: Qualitative researchers try to develop a complex picture of the problem or issues under study. This involves reporting multiple perspectives, identifying the many factors involved in a situation, and generally sketching the larger picture that emerges.

The researcher was aware of the need to involve as many different ‘types’ of informal carer as possible and to understand

influences, prior to interview, that could potentially lead to care home placement.

Table 4.6 Characteristics of Qualitative Research

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During the recruitment period of the study the researcher was aware that the majority of informal carers were female and the spouse of the PwP. It was therefore possible that the first six or seven carers interviewed could have been a wife, whereas this study aimed to achieve a range of perspectives, such as a carer who was male, a sibling or an offspring, which was important due to their potential different experiences

For this study the researcher chose an initial sample size of 10 participants as this was considered to be adequate and of sufficient size to provide data that are detailed enough to address the research question (Gerrish and Lathlean, 2015), but if at the point of analysis the ability to theorise was limited then other participants may be included.

For this study informal carers would be purposefully selected to take part in an in-depth interview for this part of the study. Purposive sampling is a deliberately non-random method of sampling, which aims to sample a group of individuals with a particular characteristic (Bowling, 2014, pg 208).

Decisions about the individuals to be included in the sample are taken by the researcher to ensure the individuals are the most likely to provide data of sufficient relevance and depth to answer the research question (Gerrish and Lathlean, 2015). Individuals would be invited to take part in an in-depth interview if they met the following criteria:

 Consented to take part in the PD Care Home study

 Identified themselves as the main informal carer of the PwP

and

 The PwP was admitted into a permanent care home placement during the study recruitment period of 1^st January 2015 to 31^st December 2016.

These carers would have gone through the event/outcome (i.e. placing the person they cared for into a care home) being researched and were

therefore in the best position to help the researcher to understand the

phenomenon and answer the research questions (Creswell, 2014a, pg 189).

By using purposive sampling the researcher could choose a variety of male

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and female informal carers, including spouses, siblings, offspring and friends to be interviewed to try and understand the perspective of different types of informal carers in this process. It was also appreciated that recruitment of carers to this part of the study would solely depend on who was admitted into a care home during the recruitment time period.

4.7.3 Recruitment

The PD team is usually made aware of when a PwP enters into a care home due to:

 The PD team being involved in their care during the transition period between home and care home placement.

 Their family or GP informing us of a change of residence.

 The care home contacting us to inform us of their new resident.

The PD team were aware to inform the researcher when anyone within the service went into a care home. The researcher then checked their details against the study database to determine if they were in the Care Home study and if they had an informal carer. This way it was hoped to identify all potential participants in a timely manner.