Collecting qualitative data: A practical guide to textual, media and virtual techniques, 2017
This chapter introduces the story completion (SC) method of collecting qualitative data, a novel ... more This chapter introduces the story completion (SC) method of collecting qualitative data, a novel technique that offers intriguing potential to the qualitative researcher. Since the method is new to qualitative research, it has fewer published research studies than some of the other methods covered in this book. For this reason, the chapter aims not only to provide a description of the method and recommendations for how best to use it but also to explore some of the unresolved theoretical and practical questions about SC. These questions have been identified by the chapter authors, who comprise the Story Completion Research Group. We are a group of researchers who have come together to share our experience of using and further developing the method. Our view is that SC has the potential to ‘reach the parts that other methods cannot reach’ (Pope and Mays, 1995); it therefore has advantages over and above being enticingly resource-lite in terms of data collection, although that in itse...
Journal of Further and Higher Education, May 21, 2014
Disclaimer UWE has obtained warranties from all depositors as to their title in the material depo... more Disclaimer UWE has obtained warranties from all depositors as to their title in the material deposited and as to their right to deposit such material. UWE makes no representation or warranties of commercial utility, title, or fitness for a particular purpose or any other warranty, express or implied in respect of any material deposited. UWE makes no representation that the use of the materials will not infringe any patent, copyright, trademark or other property or proprietary rights. UWE accepts no liability for any infringement of intellectual property rights in any material deposited but will remove such material from public view pending investigation in the event of an allegation of any such infringement.
Let’s start our tale about researching in a pandemic with the beginning of a story: Sam has been ... more Let’s start our tale about researching in a pandemic with the beginning of a story: Sam has been keeping in touch with friends online during the COVID-19 Lockdown, and learned that some of them are going to meet up in the big local park, just after dark, to hang out and have a drink… They’re encouraging Sam to come along… We invite you to imagine how you might tell the rest of this story, or indeed to go ahead and write it. We ask you to then reflect on what emotions this scenario evokes for you. The research we describe in this chapter stemmed from emotional responses – personally felt, and witnessed – to a global crisis, and specifically to an unprecedented ‘lockdown’ of normal life. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the UK and Āotearoa/New Zealand (NZ) went into full lockdown at the same time (24 and 25 March 2020, respectively). The research we describe took root in several emotion-filled (virtual) conversations related to media coverage of high-profile public figures breach...
Virginia Braun, Victoria Clarke, Hannah Frith, Nikki Hayfield, Helen Malson, Naomi Moller and Idu... more Virginia Braun, Victoria Clarke, Hannah Frith, Nikki Hayfield, Helen Malson, Naomi Moller and Iduna Shah-Beckley came together at the University of the West of England (UWE) in July 2017 to discuss, and share their enthusiasm for, the story completion method. Virginia nominally ‘led’ the discussion, to keep us on track. This is a transcript of the discussion, edited by the Special Issue editors, principally Hannah Frith, which we have all read and commented on. The discussion begins with the contributors introducing themselves, and their experience of the story completion method. It then identifies a series of ‘knotty issues’ about story completion which we explored: 1) What can stories tell us?; 2) Research practicalities, comparative design and sample size; 3) What happens when story completion doesn’t go to plan?; and 4) Getting published. The conversation ends by considering ‘Future possibilities for story completion research’. Our aim was not to reach consensus of definitive ‘a...
Pre‐pandemic research has suggested that video counselling is as effective as face‐to‐face practi... more Pre‐pandemic research has suggested that video counselling is as effective as face‐to‐face practice. However, the mass migration of therapy to the online video domain as a result of the COVID‐19 pandemic makes it essential to interrogate the evidence base. This paper provides a critical commentary on how video therapy is defined/labelled, the current evidence about whether video therapy is effective, and whether the working alliance and therapeutic relationship functions differently in video counselling. The paper concludes that while the evidence to date is promising, it is limited in quantity and applicability and hence generalisability. Lack of evidence is not evidence that video therapy is ineffective, but the large gaps in understanding highlight the importance, both ethically and empirically, of further research in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Counselling & Psychotherapy Research is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed ...
The truth about (m)otherhood: Choosing to be childfree, 2021
This chapter provides a critical review of the inter-disciplinary research on voluntary childless... more This chapter provides a critical review of the inter-disciplinary research on voluntary childlessness, examining some of the problematic assumptions that underpin the literature and the image of the childfree woman that emerges as a result. It is not intended as a comprehensive overview of this literature, but rather a feminist engagement with the frameworks and ideology that shape and limit it. One of the reasons why the motives, characteristics, and personality of women who choose to be childfree have been of interest to researchers is because there is a social assumption that having children is a natural human instinct. Pronatalist social ideologies frame parenting as deeply fulfilling, essential for human happiness and a meaningful life, and a marker of a successful adulthood (Morison et al.; Moller and Clarke). Furthermore, there is a social equation of motherhood and femininity, a ‘motherhood imperative’ (Giles et al.; Gillespie, “When No Means No”), or ‘motherhood mandate’ (R...
Debate exists in the eating disorders field about the fitness to practise of counsellors with eat... more Debate exists in the eating disorders field about the fitness to practise of counsellors with eating disorder histories (Johnston, Smethurst & Gowers, 2005). Yet despite widespread acknowledgement of the demanding nature of eating disorder counselling in general (Zerbe, 2008), almost no research exists about the actual experiences of recovered eating disorder counsellors in particular. Using semi-structured interviews this study aimed
Handbook of Research Methods in Health Social Sciences
This chapter introduces the story completion (SC) method of collecting qualitative data, a novel ... more This chapter introduces the story completion (SC) method of collecting qualitative data, a novel technique that offers exciting potential to the qualitative researcher. SC involves a researcher writing a story “stem” or “cue” – or, more simply put, the start of a story, usually an opening sentence or two – and asking the participants to complete or continue the story. Originally developed as a form of projective test, the use of SC in qualitative research is relatively new. The authors comprise the Story Completion Research Group, a group of researchers that have come together to share their experience of using and further developing the method. This chapter explains what SC offers the qualitative researcher – including choices about the “best” epistemiological lens and analytic approach for their research question, the potential to collect data about sensitive or taboo topics and to access socially undesirable responses, as well as the possibility of research designs that allow comparisons (for example between male and female respondents). This chapter also provides key guidance, such as what constitutes an appropriate research question, and sampling and design considerations. As a recently developed method, SC has fewer published research studies than some of the other research methods covered in this volume. For this reason, the chapter aims not only to provide a description of the method and recommendations for how best to use it, but also to explore some of the unresolved theoretical and practical questions about SC as well as to suggest future directions for SC.
Existing research suggests that embryo donation (ED) may be seen as similar to adoption by those ... more Existing research suggests that embryo donation (ED) may be seen as similar to adoption by those who donate or receive embryos, or it may not. Our qualitative study explored whether having a child via embryo donation initiated kinship connections between embryo donor and recipient families as interpreted by recipient parents. Interviews were conducted with five parents from four families whose child(ren) had been born via embryo donation. All four families had an open-contact relationship set up with the couples who donated their embryos through an agency in the USA. Narrative thematic analysis of interview data and visual family map drawings were used to explore kinship conceptualizations. We conclude that the dilemma experienced by parents who have a child via embryo donation is to decide how to reconcile their child’s different genetic heritage, when gestation and upbringing both clearly boundary family membership solely within the recipient family. While some families were still...
Formerly heterosexually partnered gay fathers raised with religion are an under-researched group ... more Formerly heterosexually partnered gay fathers raised with religion are an under-researched group of LGBTQ parents. This group have potentially complex coming out journeys, which can result in them seeking counselling. This research explores the counselling experiences of such men and offers suggestions for working therapeutically with them. Twelve self-identified gay fathers participated in qualitative interviews. These men all had children in the context of a heterosexual marriage or committed partnership, and a religious upbringing of some kind in the US, Canada, the UK or Ireland. The key finding of the qualitative analysis was that participants wanted therapists to not assume a 'best' outcome for them as either gay or 'straight'. Instead, they wanted therapists to respect and assist them to explore their own individual sense-making around their identities and to reject fixed notions from both ex-gay and (some versions of) gay affirmative therapy of what it means to be a 'well-adjusted' (gay) father.
Collecting qualitative data: A practical guide to textual, media and virtual techniques, 2017
This chapter introduces the story completion (SC) method of collecting qualitative data, a novel ... more This chapter introduces the story completion (SC) method of collecting qualitative data, a novel technique that offers intriguing potential to the qualitative researcher. Since the method is new to qualitative research, it has fewer published research studies than some of the other methods covered in this book. For this reason, the chapter aims not only to provide a description of the method and recommendations for how best to use it but also to explore some of the unresolved theoretical and practical questions about SC. These questions have been identified by the chapter authors, who comprise the Story Completion Research Group. We are a group of researchers who have come together to share our experience of using and further developing the method. Our view is that SC has the potential to ‘reach the parts that other methods cannot reach’ (Pope and Mays, 1995); it therefore has advantages over and above being enticingly resource-lite in terms of data collection, although that in itse...
Journal of Further and Higher Education, May 21, 2014
Disclaimer UWE has obtained warranties from all depositors as to their title in the material depo... more Disclaimer UWE has obtained warranties from all depositors as to their title in the material deposited and as to their right to deposit such material. UWE makes no representation or warranties of commercial utility, title, or fitness for a particular purpose or any other warranty, express or implied in respect of any material deposited. UWE makes no representation that the use of the materials will not infringe any patent, copyright, trademark or other property or proprietary rights. UWE accepts no liability for any infringement of intellectual property rights in any material deposited but will remove such material from public view pending investigation in the event of an allegation of any such infringement.
Let’s start our tale about researching in a pandemic with the beginning of a story: Sam has been ... more Let’s start our tale about researching in a pandemic with the beginning of a story: Sam has been keeping in touch with friends online during the COVID-19 Lockdown, and learned that some of them are going to meet up in the big local park, just after dark, to hang out and have a drink… They’re encouraging Sam to come along… We invite you to imagine how you might tell the rest of this story, or indeed to go ahead and write it. We ask you to then reflect on what emotions this scenario evokes for you. The research we describe in this chapter stemmed from emotional responses – personally felt, and witnessed – to a global crisis, and specifically to an unprecedented ‘lockdown’ of normal life. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the UK and Āotearoa/New Zealand (NZ) went into full lockdown at the same time (24 and 25 March 2020, respectively). The research we describe took root in several emotion-filled (virtual) conversations related to media coverage of high-profile public figures breach...
Virginia Braun, Victoria Clarke, Hannah Frith, Nikki Hayfield, Helen Malson, Naomi Moller and Idu... more Virginia Braun, Victoria Clarke, Hannah Frith, Nikki Hayfield, Helen Malson, Naomi Moller and Iduna Shah-Beckley came together at the University of the West of England (UWE) in July 2017 to discuss, and share their enthusiasm for, the story completion method. Virginia nominally ‘led’ the discussion, to keep us on track. This is a transcript of the discussion, edited by the Special Issue editors, principally Hannah Frith, which we have all read and commented on. The discussion begins with the contributors introducing themselves, and their experience of the story completion method. It then identifies a series of ‘knotty issues’ about story completion which we explored: 1) What can stories tell us?; 2) Research practicalities, comparative design and sample size; 3) What happens when story completion doesn’t go to plan?; and 4) Getting published. The conversation ends by considering ‘Future possibilities for story completion research’. Our aim was not to reach consensus of definitive ‘a...
Pre‐pandemic research has suggested that video counselling is as effective as face‐to‐face practi... more Pre‐pandemic research has suggested that video counselling is as effective as face‐to‐face practice. However, the mass migration of therapy to the online video domain as a result of the COVID‐19 pandemic makes it essential to interrogate the evidence base. This paper provides a critical commentary on how video therapy is defined/labelled, the current evidence about whether video therapy is effective, and whether the working alliance and therapeutic relationship functions differently in video counselling. The paper concludes that while the evidence to date is promising, it is limited in quantity and applicability and hence generalisability. Lack of evidence is not evidence that video therapy is ineffective, but the large gaps in understanding highlight the importance, both ethically and empirically, of further research in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Counselling & Psychotherapy Research is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed ...
The truth about (m)otherhood: Choosing to be childfree, 2021
This chapter provides a critical review of the inter-disciplinary research on voluntary childless... more This chapter provides a critical review of the inter-disciplinary research on voluntary childlessness, examining some of the problematic assumptions that underpin the literature and the image of the childfree woman that emerges as a result. It is not intended as a comprehensive overview of this literature, but rather a feminist engagement with the frameworks and ideology that shape and limit it. One of the reasons why the motives, characteristics, and personality of women who choose to be childfree have been of interest to researchers is because there is a social assumption that having children is a natural human instinct. Pronatalist social ideologies frame parenting as deeply fulfilling, essential for human happiness and a meaningful life, and a marker of a successful adulthood (Morison et al.; Moller and Clarke). Furthermore, there is a social equation of motherhood and femininity, a ‘motherhood imperative’ (Giles et al.; Gillespie, “When No Means No”), or ‘motherhood mandate’ (R...
Debate exists in the eating disorders field about the fitness to practise of counsellors with eat... more Debate exists in the eating disorders field about the fitness to practise of counsellors with eating disorder histories (Johnston, Smethurst & Gowers, 2005). Yet despite widespread acknowledgement of the demanding nature of eating disorder counselling in general (Zerbe, 2008), almost no research exists about the actual experiences of recovered eating disorder counsellors in particular. Using semi-structured interviews this study aimed
Handbook of Research Methods in Health Social Sciences
This chapter introduces the story completion (SC) method of collecting qualitative data, a novel ... more This chapter introduces the story completion (SC) method of collecting qualitative data, a novel technique that offers exciting potential to the qualitative researcher. SC involves a researcher writing a story “stem” or “cue” – or, more simply put, the start of a story, usually an opening sentence or two – and asking the participants to complete or continue the story. Originally developed as a form of projective test, the use of SC in qualitative research is relatively new. The authors comprise the Story Completion Research Group, a group of researchers that have come together to share their experience of using and further developing the method. This chapter explains what SC offers the qualitative researcher – including choices about the “best” epistemiological lens and analytic approach for their research question, the potential to collect data about sensitive or taboo topics and to access socially undesirable responses, as well as the possibility of research designs that allow comparisons (for example between male and female respondents). This chapter also provides key guidance, such as what constitutes an appropriate research question, and sampling and design considerations. As a recently developed method, SC has fewer published research studies than some of the other research methods covered in this volume. For this reason, the chapter aims not only to provide a description of the method and recommendations for how best to use it, but also to explore some of the unresolved theoretical and practical questions about SC as well as to suggest future directions for SC.
Existing research suggests that embryo donation (ED) may be seen as similar to adoption by those ... more Existing research suggests that embryo donation (ED) may be seen as similar to adoption by those who donate or receive embryos, or it may not. Our qualitative study explored whether having a child via embryo donation initiated kinship connections between embryo donor and recipient families as interpreted by recipient parents. Interviews were conducted with five parents from four families whose child(ren) had been born via embryo donation. All four families had an open-contact relationship set up with the couples who donated their embryos through an agency in the USA. Narrative thematic analysis of interview data and visual family map drawings were used to explore kinship conceptualizations. We conclude that the dilemma experienced by parents who have a child via embryo donation is to decide how to reconcile their child’s different genetic heritage, when gestation and upbringing both clearly boundary family membership solely within the recipient family. While some families were still...
Formerly heterosexually partnered gay fathers raised with religion are an under-researched group ... more Formerly heterosexually partnered gay fathers raised with religion are an under-researched group of LGBTQ parents. This group have potentially complex coming out journeys, which can result in them seeking counselling. This research explores the counselling experiences of such men and offers suggestions for working therapeutically with them. Twelve self-identified gay fathers participated in qualitative interviews. These men all had children in the context of a heterosexual marriage or committed partnership, and a religious upbringing of some kind in the US, Canada, the UK or Ireland. The key finding of the qualitative analysis was that participants wanted therapists to not assume a 'best' outcome for them as either gay or 'straight'. Instead, they wanted therapists to respect and assist them to explore their own individual sense-making around their identities and to reject fixed notions from both ex-gay and (some versions of) gay affirmative therapy of what it means to be a 'well-adjusted' (gay) father.
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