Here is a brief summary of the data collection plan of a fictitious qualitative study. Read the summary and then respond to the questions that follow.
Finnerty studied the transitions of elderly people from an assisted living facility to a nursing home. Over the 3 months of summer, she volunteered at a 75-bed nursing home in Florida. During this 3-month period, eight new residents were admitted to the nursing home from assisted living facilities. Residents signed an informed consent explaining that they were agreeing to participate in a study of their adjustment to the nursing home. Finnerty used participant observation to collect the data. She observed the admission interview of each of the eight new elders to the nursing home. Then, every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 8 am to 4 pm over a 4-month period, Finnerty observed the nursing home residents’ behavior and participated in activities with the residents, e.g., bingo, meals, and crafts. Finnerty periodically interviewed not only the elders about their feelings and experiences making the transition but also some of the family members who visited them. In her initial interview with the elders, Finnerty asked, “Tell me what it was like for you to learn that you would be moved to this nursing home.” She recorded the interviews and also maintained logs and field notes about her fieldwork at the nursing home. Information about the participants’ age, marital status, and medical status was obtained from nursing home files.
Short-Answer Questions
a. Which of the following methods were used as data collection sources in Finnerty’s study?
ď‚· Self-reports
ď‚· Observation
ď‚· Biophysiological measures
ď‚· Records
b. Were the data collection methods structured or unstructured?
c. Which of the following specific methods were used?
ď‚· Grand tour questions
ď‚· Closed-ended questions
ď‚· Summated rating scale
ď‚· Photo elicitation interviews
ď‚· Participant observation
d. Which of the following eligibility criteria are implied?
ď‚· Age
ď‚· Length of time in a nursing home
ď‚· Ability to read and write in English
ď‚· Involvement with visiting family members who visited
e. Was triangulation used in this study?