S.TRUEMAN PhD THESIS 2016

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Chapter 5: Methods

5.1 Introduction Chapter 5 describes and outlines the qualitative methods used in this case study thesis. First, the chapter describes the role of the researcher, case study data, sources of data and ethical considerations. The processes used to collect the data are then discussed. Finally, the chapter outlines and discusses the process of analysing the data. 5.2 Role of the Researcher In case study research, the researchers themselves are the instrument for data gathering and analysis, and who must undertake deep and prolonged engagement with the case in its context. Stake (1995) called on researchers to consider their role in data gathering and analysis. He emphasised that the role of researcher as interpreter is to examine ‘the nature and quality of activities and processes, portraying them in narrative description and interpretive assertion’ (p. 96). In such instances, the researcher is immersed in the context of the research, where it is their responsibility to develop an understanding of the issue(s) by spending ‘extended time on-site, personally in contact with activities and operations of the case, reflecting, and revising descriptions and meanings of what is going on’ (Stake, 2000, p. 442). The subjectivity of the researcher’s experience of nursing in remote locations and his interpretations is inherent in the research process. Interpretively, the researcher and the participants were inexorably linked in the study design, the generation of data and the analysis of findings . It is acknowledged here that the gathering and interpreting of ‘insider’ perspectives in the present study enabled a deeper and richer (emic) understanding of the world of remote generalist nurses caring for mental health clients than would be available from