The final week

Well in my final stride and boy am i looking forward to a holiday..

So everything is coming along and i'm dong the final bits and pieces...

Literature review - check
Methodology chapter - check
Findings chapter - check
Discussion chapter - check
COnclusion - check


Things to do:

Final bits of intro...
Abstract!
Editing and reviewing all 117 pages
Checking starts and ends of chapter to ensure links well
Put in peer checking comments/examples
Check key words are congruent throughout
Check formatting
Printing check


Then...

Whala - ready for binding and handing my life in

figuring out how the core category and phenomenon fits with the conditional paradigm...

Struggling with all of this - and linking all my categories together to make an overall picture.. So ive pulled everything to bits and will use this list to guide my linking sentances.

Causal conditions (coming in with)
Influence the process towards fitting in

Phenomenon (the individual)
The phenomenon that arises from the causal condition of coming in with is the individual.

Contextual conditions (wanting to)
Fitting in is shaped by contextual conditions.
The contextual conditions influence what strategies are used.

Intervening conditions (under pressure/taking responsibility)
They prevent or alter the journey towards fitting in.
The intervening conditions influence the development of the strategies for fitting in.

Actions/interactions (letting them decide/working alongside/checking in)
Strategies used by the individual to progress towards fitting in.

Consequences (Having the confidence/belonging/coming to terms with)
The behaviour/responses of the individual as a result of the strategies used.

Hopefully this helps

Memo from back in August

I was reading through my book of memos earlier and discovered a question that i had wrote down on Monday 25th of August. It was funny - i believe that i know understand more about what i was questioning back then..

The question was.. we are trained to do more than what is appropriate or required in acute settings... Is this a reason why new graduates dont "fit"?

The findings i have that relate to this in my research is all around the models that new graduates try and apply in the acute setting and this is a particular struggle for them..Previous research has identified that this is an ongoing concern and challenge for OT's - but i guess its more of a struggle particularly for new graduates as they transition into the acute care and are trying to consolidate and transfer knowledge from one context to another..seems the knowledge they are wanting to transfer just doesnt fit with the acute setting as easy as say a rehab setting where they can utilse a "long term" rehab focused model...

Anyways good to know that my question in some ways back in Aug has been answered hehe

Jess

Finding a definition to prompt me to think

Ive started to discuss my findings - part of which i need to talk about the implications of my research on occupational therapy...

So putting a hole heep of definitions together to prompt me to think more..

Implication
Noun
1. something that is suggested or implied
2. an act or instance of suggesting or implying or being implied
3. a probable consequence (of something)

1. The act of implicating or the condition of being implicated.
2. The act of implying or the condition of being implied.
3. Something that is implied, especially:
a. An indirect indication; a suggestion.
b. An implied meaning; implicit significance.
c. An inference. See Usage Note at infer.

a meaning that is not expressly stated but can be inferred

The act of implicating or the condition of being implicated.
The act of implying or the condition of being implied.
Something that is implied, especially:
An indirect indication; a suggestion.
An implied meaning; implicit significance.
An inference. See Usage Note at infer.

noun
an implicating or being implicated
an implying or being implied
something implied, from which an inference may be drawn
Logic a formal relationship between two propositions such that if the first is true then the second is necessarily or logically

May need to go for an aspect of the word..

Implicate

1. To involve or connect intimately or incriminatingly: evidence that implicates others in the plot.
2. To have as a consequence or necessary circumstance; imply or entail: His evasiveness implicated complicity.
3. Linguistics To convey, imply, or suggest by implicature.
4. Archaic To interweave or entangle; entwine.

Imply

1. to express or indicate by a hint; suggest
2. to suggest or involve as a necessary consequence: a spending commitment implies a corresponding tax imposition

Will do some more brainstorming with these

Getting to grips with "skills"

It has occured to me that perhaps the emphasis i have been placing on the skills that the new graduate comes with isnt there in the data.

I have gone through the transcripts and nothing popped out at me to suggest that the participants talked about the skills that new graduates bring. I see more in the data that suggests that its not what skills the new grad comes with that is important - its more about the attitude to work on and quickly learn the skills they need in the acute setting.

From the data - when ever the participants were prompted to talk about the skills required - they talked about that prioritisation, time management, managing the fast paced ward were important. Furthermore, they talked alot about how the acute setting was suitable for new grads to develop clinical reasoning skills and "core" OT skills.

Im thinking the skills they come with doesnt really infuence the fit into acute setting at all, and its the fact that there are lots of good opportunities to develop and learn the skills needed for acute settings. So therefore - i have removed "skills" from what the new grad comes in with...as i dont think the data supports that the skills influence the fit into acute care. Certainly they do influence how they cope and manage after transitioning into the setting, but not at first.

Participants did talk about looking at how they transfer skills from their placement but thats as far as it went and there was no specific detail in the data.

However - im still thinking that the knowledge they bring may fit in with what they come with - but im not sure if this fits in coming in with or with wanting to practice in an occupatinoal focused way....

Here is the information that i could put in the coming in with section under the subcategory of "having the knowledge"...

The second concept in coming in with was having knowledge. Participants indicated that prior experiences in the acute physical setting would speed up the transition as the new graduates would know the place and would only have to focus on learning and developing skills and knowledge. Participants spoke about the knowledge new graduates brought with them from their training, including the OT processes and models. However participants pointed out that the new graduates didn’t feel they had the skills and knowledge to practice in an acute setting.

They come to us with great knowledge of the OT processes and OT models (FG1: C65).

I think they come feeling that that don’t have skills and knowledge, that they just want to consolidate. (FG2: A2).

hmmmmmmmm - some thinking to be done

DISCOVERING whats in the data

Well today i have read through every word the participants have said and tried to make sense of the categories and subcategories.

My thoughts at the moment:

The categories and subcategories.....

Working alongside (axial)
- "observing"
- "reflecting with" - i did have this separate - but i think it fits nicely in here
- ?? "Learning things with/trying new things out" - going to keep this here - it might fit in with observing but it might be separate

Checking in (axial)
- "needing to ask"
- "get support"
- "checking out before" - maybe need to find a better open code ? recognising they dont know

Being under pressure (axial)
- "doing things quickly"
- "pacing yourself"
- "amount of referrals" - maybe also timing of referrals/inappropriate/pace of referrals etc

Having confidence (axial)
- "competent to practice" "to say you dont know"
- "giving your opinion"
- "feeling supported"

Letting them decide (axial)
- "figuring out how"
- "a change to test it out"
- "taking a risk"
- "knowing your boundaries"

Having the right attitude (axial)
- "an interest in"
- "lets do it"
- wanting to be there

Developing relationships (axial) - thinking this may fit with checking in some how..
- "belonging"
- "having someone there"
- "sharing"

Knowing the place
- "exposure to"

Finally... i am still working on one more category - to see if it fits - or if it stands alone - or if it even should be there..

Its around practicing in an occupational focused way.
Im thinking that one of the open codes could be "wanting to". What im finding is that the participants have said how new graduates are wanting to practice in an occupational focused way...not being seen as someone who purely gives out equipment or just there to be part of the discharge process. They are wanting to use their OT skill, proceses and models in the acute environment but they are "struggling" in the medical focused actue environment. The new graduate comes with great knowledge about the OT models and processes - but they are struggling to put theory into practice. I wonder if this is because of the following things:

- the perception of the team - that they dont value or have any idea of what an OT can do - they see an OT's role as being purely equipment provision - so that "norm" is there - and from my memory ing Craig, Robertson & Milligan's study (2004), the team members valued the OT role for their "quick fix" approaches..

- the next thing is all around the timing and pace or amount of referrals. With limited time, and when the new grad doesnt have the knowledge about "diagnosis" and how it affects function - im wondering whether this links to what one of the participants said... around the referrals come in late..we have little time "and thats why we get in a situation where we are purely prescribing equipment".

- the next thing is all around the types of models the new grads are trying to use to practice in an "occupational focused" way. The models are all focused on long term...building up relationships over time.. and "they dont account for the fact that its a very short part of the patients journey. So i take this as meaning that the new grads come out with great knowledge of the models and want to use it and it doesnt work (very simple language haha).. So.. is this why they struggle to practice in an occ focused way??

So at the moment - i am thinking that this fits somewhere..and i think it may even stand alone as a category. And all this thinking has made me realise that maybe this contributes or impacts of the fit between new grads into acute settings. I think certainly this is definitly going to be included in the "future areas for research" part of my discussion.

But if this doesnt fit in the end - i am going to have to do some thing abot it after my dissertation is done - maybe something additional..

Enough thinking for the day - doubt that will be the case

Jess

Focusing on the fit ONLY

Its becoming clear that i need to be constantly reminding myself that i am looking at the fit between new grads working in acute care settings - and not getting side tracked on the "interesting things to me"

Some of the things that are in my mind that i want to try and get out around the fit........as i am in the middle of analysis


Just wanting to pull together =The experiences/knowledge and skills the new grad brings with them that influences the initial fit into acute care.

"Different therapists come in with different needs"

"There exposure to different things as a student is really a key thing"

"So it depends on their past experiences a lot" - as to what role orientation plays

For example
"Some may have done a placement in orthopaedics and not have to worry about learning about different transfers. Some may have done a community placement and are well use to equipment. Some have done a mental health placement and the whole cognition thing is something that they are more aware of".

"There’s not replacement for experience, I think new grads perhaps need to relax and the fact that they are new grads, and a lot of the learning with experience"

"I suppose in an ideal world that transition, like having a placement and having a student opportunity in an acute or physical setting. Any job you choose to go into - if you’ve already had a student placement your going to be better to transition"

"You can know a place, but if you don’t have those clinical reasoning skills its still going to be difficult"

Previous experience in acute - transition is much shorter

For example
"We’ve had someone, because they’ve had placements here as well, they’ve had a couple of student placements within the DHB, they settle in within 2 or 3 weeks".

"If the new grad has been lucky enough to have a placement in a DHB or an acute setting somewhere. Often that transition is much easier as it would if you were looking at…if your just been in mental health and you go into mental health -that transition is made easy. So I think that that makes a big difference. I think they definitely struggle if they have had no hospital experience, and they come into a hospital environment as a new grad it can be very overwhelming, there’s just that business, you have to learn those prioritisation skills quickly. How you move a patient when they may not have physically moved somebody before. It really depends on the person, we’ve had dome new grads who have fitted in with in a couple of days, and we’ve had some that have taken months to settle into the hospital environment, and its just the speed and the pressure that it has".

A list of things i need to remember to improve the quality of my writing

Had a session with the learning centre today - things i learnt that i need to be aware of and go over when checking for grammar and flow of writing include....

Checking there is no repetition

Consitancy - verbs (endings) & nouns (single/plural)

Proof reading - reading of writing - reading out loud

Run on sentances....

Apostrophies (before/after or at all)

Incomplete sentances

Missing prepostions e.g. on, in, to.

So will use this list when editing my writing over the next month

Jess

WOW - another interesting interview

Im about buggard - but i felt that i had to get all this excitement out of my head so i can sleep!

Made a link between support and confidence

Intereting points about the new grads responsibility when they are feeling anxious, and chekcing things out before they do it

And developing the individual factors starts at having the attitude to want to work on them

Very interesting point around how new grads dont have the same caseload as a more experienced therapist in terms of level of difficulty and amount - and developing over time

Over confidence came up again - and a nice link between over confidence and patient safety
Being competent to practice you have to be confident
That confidence is not only related to new grads - but experienced therapists also - and the cycle confidence can go on

And that confidence is part of the communication style

Ohhhh - very very intereting data about clinical reasoning!!! And that you do alot of assess and discharge - but missing out on a lot of certain clinical reasoning skills to do with treatment becuase of that - and building on interactive reasoning - knowing how the disability impacts on the person - so yes clincial reasnoing skills develop to be really quick in some areas but missing out in others - not indpeth clinical reasoning

Being safe is the responsibility of the new grad

Prioritisation - doing it together in the morning - but "things change"!! Getting advice from charge nurse.

Possibly a link between priorisation and working at pace

And not giving to much to the new grad - but i think this is purely the type of program that this DHB offers...becuase this is certainly not my experience!

The role of pre experiences - a few examples

Team support in options/resources

The context vs the OT role and professional background
I like this quote "we are not promoting occupation, we’re promoting safety"

Disucssions around people occupations - and the OT role on the ward - and essentially what the OT is employed to be there for

And finally - using the OT models - basically none of the OT tranditional models that we learn about are applicable to the acute physical setting.

But anyways - i need to get some shut eye

Jess

Great data discovered i think!

Interview one is done and transcriped! Total of 4 hours out of my day :) Getting speedy at transcription now!

Well so carnt wait to discuss this interview with my superviser... Interesting comments around "pace" and how compentence goes alongside confidence. Also another interesting comment around the role of OT within the MDT!!!

Quite excitement im feeling right now!

New ideas came up e.g. "live supervision" and different types of confidence within that.

Abit more depth about "safe" - providing two different views

Sme good examples around knowing that the new grads are making sound clinical judgments

Alot of talk about prioritisation and possibly its fit with working at "pace" - being clinically affective!

Pace - an interesting perspective on this!

And i think more and more is coming out about managing the caseload - and how you can do this to be clinically effective.

Overall - wonderful data i think haha

So exciting :)

Interiews next

Next up is the semi structured interviews this week - ive got some nice questions as a result of constant comparison analysis and im hoping to get some really nice information to build on what i already have. I will transcribe those interviews and then see where im at - i then should be able to work with all the catergories and concepts and work on a theory as to the "fit" between new grads working in acute physical settings.

I have been working on my literature review and just seeing what information is out there already and what information i can use to confirm the quality of my findings. Ive found that there is some literature on supporting the transition of new grads that will fit in quite nicely. There is also some information on the challenges new grads face as well as strategies to overcome these.

Its all quite exciting at the moment - because im actually getting somewhere!!! Im developing theory grounded in the data that i have collected! Weird but its a good feeling!

Off to sleep now - had a huge weekend of coding, reading literature and getting organised for this busy week that is coming up

Literature chapter

Im so glad i did an anotated bibliography!!!!!!!!! Im understand how "literature" fits in now!!!!!!!!
First it helped me to see what was out there...then this helped me focus my initial data collection.
Now that i have some data i can see how i can use the literature out there to validate my findings. Pretty good this grounded theory thing i recon!!!!!!!!!!
P.S - i found some literature to back that up in my literature review chapter!

Plan to continue working through the literature chapter this week.
But boy its gonna be a big week - 2 interviews 2 transcriptions! and 4 days of work all before Friday.

The categories and subcategories

Ive learnt something today - ive learnt that using the direct quotes and putting them alongside the subcategories is starting to develop the dimensions and characteristics of my categories! It took 6 hours but i have something to show for it!!!! And this time i have more than one word - in some cases i have several sentences that show the context of the subcategory. There are pages and pages - but i think open coding is well on its way...and axial coding as well.

The core category?

Core Category Criteria [GLASER78, pp. 94-95)

must be central
reoccur frequently
takes more time to saturate
connections with other categories comes quick and richly
clear and grabbing implication for formal theory
considerable carry through, does not lead to dead ends
completely variable
is also a dimension of the problem
tend to prevent two other sources (social interest and logical deductive) of establishing a core which are not grounded
to see if #9 is a false criteria
can be any kind of theoretical code: a process, a condition, dimensions, a consequence.

At this stage i am thinking "the individual" may be the core category...or maybe it is the transition

So the Categories/Subcategories...

Support
-Informal
-formal
-active
-transition (or is this separate??)

Clinical reasoning
-decision making
-safety

Skills and Knowledge
-prioritisation
-managing referrals
-standardised assessments
-communication

Rotation
-purpose???
-grounding
-preparation
-consolidation

Individual

Safety

Occ Focused OT


HMMMMMMMMMMMMM I guess this core will come - just have to keep working

CALLED VALIDATION OF THE DATA - BUT FILLING IN THE CATEGORIES NEEDS TO HAPPEN FIRST :)

All of the categories of data

The individual
“Better suited for some types of OT’s than others”

Confidence
Attitude
Previous experience
Personality
Willingness to learn/interested
Teachable
Reflective
Analytical -think out of the square
Anxiety
Maturity

Support
“With appropriate support...”
“We make it suitable”

Formal
-Supervision
-In-services
-Rotation programme
-Orientation programme
-Clinical supervision
-Peer review group
-New Grad learning programme
-Observing & active supervision
-Overlap - one OT leaving/one coming
-Young department - not so good

Informal
- Buddy
- Other disciplines
- Team
- OT department staff
- Interdisciplinary
- Peer support
- Morning/afternoon tea/lunch room/office
- Daily basis

Prioritisation

How to
What’s important?
Learnt rapidly
Deal with things thrown at you that morning
Factors to determine which one to see first
Getting information to
Gaining confidence

Referrals

Appropriate
Take responsibility
Prescribed to do…
Dealing with
Pace/volume

Reasoning/decision-making

Scope to develop strong clinical reasoning
Develop ability to think quickly on feet
Become conditioned
Unsure of
Opportunity to have reasoning backed up by other professions
Struggle bridging gap between theory and practice
Pressure to make speedy decisions

Occupational focused OT

Use OT skills in an acute setting
Not just there to be part of the discharge process
Short time-frame - can still do valuable OT work
Using OT process
Cannot develop long term relationships

Grounding/Preparation
“good way to prepare a new grad for virtually anything they might do”

Sets them up
Range of experience in a wide variety of clinical settings
Builds on core skills
Manage in any other area
Good place to consolidate their learning
Help consolidate
Good grounding
Basic occ ther skills
Opportunity to do a lot
Nuts and bolts
Simple occ ther skills

Medical Team

Call on at last minute
No idea what an OT does
Inappropriate referrals
Prescribe what an OT should do
Politics/personality types
Dealing with

Knowledge

Treatment options,
Resources
Manual handling
Standardised assessments - cognistat
What’s available?
Conditions, what should I be doing
Can teach
Training

Communication

Asking the right questions
Good at listening
If they don’t understand
Ability to talk
Speaking to people
Get the right information
Confidence
Coping & Managing

Appropriate/lots of support in place - manage challenges & cope
Taking on responsibility

Safety

Clinical
-Knowing the boundaries
-How much they can do with their level of expertise/competence
-Working at level of experience/competence

Cultural

Working with data and categories

Over the last wee while i have been continuously working with the data. Having completed 2 focus groups i have alot of information to be working with.
Ive been drawing up "models" and trying to sort out how all the categories fit together.

My supervisor and I have realised that the "fit" for new grads in acute care practice is all about being able to clinically reason at pace. The models i have been playing with are no where near right YET, but every time i do another one it changes in some aspect and new bits get added. At the moment i am i guess focusing on the transition period and i have identified more questions that im interested in asking the participants about. Just picking the "right' participant is hard because they all to a degree have talked about some aspects of things i wish to go "futher into".

The transition is all around "bridging the gap" between student and new graduate or theory and practice. A comment that i am really interested in is "becoming conditioned" - and i guess this seems to fit with the idea of clinical reasoning at pace.

Ive been thinking today about how all this data is going to fit with my literature review section. This is something that im going to need to get clear relatively quickly so i can get on to making sure it is all going to fit together.

Another thing that is interesting me at the moment is the theme around support, and if this is different dependant on the individuals prev experience. Also how this relates to the hospital context and the support available. I have tried drawing some diagrams to compare the new grad with and without prev experience in acute and how long it takes them to establish clinical reasoning at pace. Im nto happy with these diagrams either - as i wanted to include the support in there but i not understanding if it is the same at first for all, then grad decreases - or if its different, or even changes over the course of the rotation.

Im also interested in what the particiants think about different types of acute settings. Whether one is "easier", "good to start in", not great for a new grad" or whether its one that they will be ready for after a few other rotations.

Another thing that is popping up in my head is - does clinically reasoning gradually develop or does it just happen one day? Also how can we determine that one person can reason at pace - in all clinical situations how complex or simple they are..

The "individual" is an interesting theme i think. We all know that everyone is different and that some people are more confidient..mature etc. But does the type of setting make any difference to how a new grad's "personality" or "attitude" fits or transitions into the work context?

Anyways these are the questions that popped up in my head during coding - memos etc.. so things i want to find out more about..


Those new grads that have no acute experience, how many struggle or jump straight in and strive?

How many new grads struggle all the way through a particular rotation?

How well do they reflect?
How much support do they need?
Does reflection help them develop and gain clinical reasoning skills at pace?

How many think outside the square?

How important is peer review and in-services, compared to supervision?

How well do they use the OT process?

Why is support from PT, SW and SLT good?

Is having enough support an issue for new grads?

How often do they respond to inappropriate referrals?

How do they take responsibility for referrals?

How well do they prioritise?
What are the implications of poor prioritisation? Examples.

What coping strategies do they use to manage rapid learning of skills such as prioritisation?

How well do they multi task?

How well do they make speedy decisions?
What factors make it hard to make speedy decisions?

Does a new grads support stay the same throughout the rotation/year or does it change. If it changes, how and why?

How would you define being safe in clinical practice?

Why is clinical reasoning different at first?
How long does clinical reasoning take to develop?

What is the purpose of a rotation programme?
What is it about the medical model acute service that makes it hard for new grads?

Is clinical reasoning different across cases?
What’s simple? What’s complex?

How do they balance working within a medical model, and applying the OT process/models?

How do they deal with team members who don’t value/know the OT role?

How do you know if a new grad is making sound clinical reasoning judgments?

Do the new grads realise the role as a new grad I as learning process?

Do you think the attitude of new grads differs across different acute settings e.g. orthopaedics vs. medical/neuro?

How well do they communicate with
a) OT collegues
b) The medical team
c) clients

Is the fit between new grads and acute looking at the context of the hospital or the clinical reasoning?

Is clincial reasoning in acute about knowing the recipe? Clinical reasoning or knowing the recipe??

How important is it having an acute placement in the fit and the speed of fitting?


Anyways meeting my superviser on Wed - then it will be time to organise the semistructured interviews

All 4 now

2nd focus group completed!

Well the 2nd focus group was held yesterday and it went great. Got some lovely examples - and i think they are more specific than the last one - i think it has worked well - the first focus group gave a broad range of challenges and ideas - and now we are adding a bit of depth.

Im in the middle of transcribing! 20 minutes to go - but i must say this time is easier than last time - the recording was a little dodgy last time and i had to listen over and over again to get the right words and phrases.

Some of the same "ideas" came up - e.g. prioritising, dependant on the individual. But it was good to get a problem solving example, and a little more on clinical reasoning. But at this stage (not having completed the transcribing or starting to code) im not sure completly of what "new" or similar.

Will post when coding...

Coding the first focus group

Well over the weekend and this morning i have been cutting up the transcript and categorising.

So far im looking at; depends on the individual; support - informal and formal; team dynamics; prioritisation; referrals; spring board/preparation; coping and managing and suitability. I no it seems like alot at the moment - but if i keep working through these ideas then im sure that main categories and subcatergories will develop.

But its been really exciting and ive been writing down my own questions alongside some ideas - and i have one member from the focus group (1) that i would like to re-interview in a semi structured interview style. I will talk about all this with my superviser.

I have identified some ideas that i think i could develop further - so thats promising!
I might write these down and have them handy for focus group 2 - just incase some of the same ideas are mensioned.

So focus group 2 is all booked in and ready to role next week - based on how much information i got in focus group 1 i bet il be in for some intense coding and analysiing post focus group 2! - but at least it will be exciting and interesting. Its awesome to have some "data to work with" that are "real" - and even better its great to know that all this work so far this year has lead to the data actually happening.

Cannot wait to have some "RESULTS" to get writing about !

Jess

Reviewing questions for next focus group

Ive been doing some thinking about what questions were really useful - and ive come to the agreement that they were all useful - the ones that i used.
I didnt really need to go into what skills and knowledge were essential - as the participants generally talked about them - however i still want to leave it in there just incase they dont discuss them.

Talking about challenging situations was great - we got some lovely examples and it really stimulated ideasas to why they were challenging.

Talking about support was a major theme that came through - the preferable/what was there. But the interesting thing was that the participant thought new grads were suitable for acute as long as the right support was available. So i think getting a clear picture of support is really important in the data collection phase - furthermore - discussing the reality of the work enviro and "why" this impacts the suitablity is also important to talk about.

I want to add in a question around the suitablity in specific settings following the discussion about whether or not they suit acute settings and whether they would employ in this area. I want to put this in because one participant perspection was that orthopaedics was not suitable - but no other participants agreed or disagreed; nor did they mension their own perspeptions of their settings e.g. neuro/med etc. So id like to add in a question if someone mensions in the next f.group about specific areas/suitability.

Jess

1st Data collection and transcribing

Talk about busy, my head hurts and im buggard!!!!!

Yesterday i did my first focus group via teleconference - and it was a hit!!!!!!! So enjoyable and i got a great start with lots of interesting data.
The things that im wrapped about is that because i had 4 participants they were saying if they were agreeing with what others were saying and then adding other things as well. This will be great to add into my rigour chapter!!!!
They all had plenty to say and i absolutely no issues with people interupting or butting in. It was really strutured, everyone had there time to talk and boy did they.
Some interesting example - especially around practicing in an occupational focused way - in an acute setting.
A few things suprised me - e.g. how well it flowed - and that everyone could really articulate what they ment. Im so glad that i chose to look at the percpetion of experienced therapists - because im starting to get some really knowledgable stuff coming through already!

8 hours in total to transcripe 1 hour of talking - not too bad. I got better as i went along. My superviser is going to go over it becuase there are a few words and phrases that im not sure i picked up accurately. But i will go over it again. But right now its time for a rest!

There are some lovely examples and the next step once transcription is done - is to cut it all up and start coding! Any thoughts that pop into my head - re: i wonder if its always like that, i wonder if others feel the same - can definilty be things that i ask in the next focus group. This will help rigour as well.

Well i was told this was the exciting part and they were correct about that one!

Time for a rest

Jess

Pilot focus group

Today i had my pilot focus group, before the real thing tomorrow. The questions trialed went well - all questions were answered and no re-wording was necessary :)

I was amazed by how fast it went - i felt like i was jumping to and throw "topic" wise - but i guess the discussions were lead my the participants.
It was great to have the support of my superviser - who made sure the discussions were continuing and asked some questions as well.
We worked together and i feel like it went really well.
So the real thing is happening tomorrow - im having 4 participants so im a little nervous. Im so glad il have my superviser there for support.
Im really excited ~ Carnt wait to get the first "data collection" done so i can start analysis and coding!!!

Carnt wait to get ideas bouncing off the participants and get the discussion rolling. Really interested to find out the "main themes" and categories to code.

Il post tomorrow following the 1st focus group :)

Nervous but carnt wait to begin!!!!!!!

Jess

Things this week and next

Well i must keep going - always plenty to get on with i say.

Just thought writing a list on here would make things easier.

So over the next 2 weeks...

1) Keep working on literature review
- going to try a new type of table to help organise my thinking and collate themes from various authors.

Article ... Theme 1...Theme 2... Theme 3... Theme 4...
. . . . .
. . . . .

This way i can go down the columns and collect "who" supports or argues what - instead of finding myself jumping to and from studies. Also this will help me identify where the gaps are in the literature.

2) Beginning to relook at my methodology information and sorting out sections for my thesis
- i have some useful information from my proposal and ethics application - so i just need to see what i have, what i need to do etc. Then i can begin to sort that chapter out

3) Re-read up on "successful focus groups" and facilitating focus groups - in preparation (to refresh my memory) for the pilot focus group due to be held 15 Aug :)

4) Keep organising participants as they contact me - demographics questionaires and consent forms etc

Well i think that will keep me busy enough :)

Rigour, Literature & Participants

Well its been a while - ive had some OT work lately so have been spending most of my free time working on rigour and literature review chapters. Wanted to get them in progress before starting data collection.

Ive taken on board the advice and information about editing and "think" i have made a god attempt at re-working it to make sense and make sure it flows nicely.

Had an aweful time trying to begin my literature review chapter - i just didnt know how to start i guess. So i printed off what literature i had for my proposal and took it to pieces. Then I went over my annotated bibliogropahy and put in more "bits" to give it depth. I used my literature mind maps also to gain a bit of depth.

Its very scrampled at the moment - im going to have to go through and bring out the main/key themes and re-work it (just like i did for rigour).

At the moment i think the key themes are:

~New Zealand health care context (funding/cost effective/quality/setting characteristics)

~New Zealand acute health care setting (nature/OT role/discharge planning process/scope of practice)

~Demands in acute care setting (skills/ knowledge/challenges/coping strategies)

~New graduate's (skills/knowlege/perceptions)

~New graduate's clinical reasoning/decision-making (theoretical knowledge/practical situation)

~Support/Supervision of new graduates (needs/nature/purpose)


On a extra exciting note - participants are beginning to contact me expressing their willingness - fingers x'd i get more :)

Another inspiring lecture

It began by taking the journey right back to when occupational therapy was founded, and how our profession had shaped.
It ended with the suggestion that our profession needs a renewed vision drawing from peoples (our patients/clients) perceptions who experience barriers to occupation. Its was suggested that we do not learn enough from our clients and this is true becuase we are constantly relying on providing evidence based practice to prove "what we do works".

It was very valuable to go back to the beginning and see how our profession has shaped ~ and the subsequent relationship between health and occupation. E.g. occupations power to restore health ~ what a powerful idea our profession is based on.

Not only did this lecture bring up many valuable ideas ~ but it provided all the listeners with a basis to reflect on how our profession is shaped and where we want it to go in the future. Ultimetly the society and health contexts in this country have shifted us away from occupation and health.

So what does this have to do with client centred practice!! Are we able to be client centred if we are not listening to what our clients want?? or do we even have the opportunity when the relationship between occupation and health is not reflected in our western context of the profession?

It confuses me - has our profession shifted to far away to ever get back to the real philosophy ~ what our profession was founded upon....

Interviewing & questioning

Today i had the opportunity to discuss and think about interviewing as a data collection method. The key things that sring to mind that i took away from this session during the honours school are:

Listenning to what participants say - in order to do 2 things. A) Clarify and check you have gained the perception of the participant, and B) keeping track of the key words or phrases they say so that you can prompt them to gain a better understanding or more depth. Not only is this important for gaining quality information, it is important for let the participant guide the disscussion. Allowing this will ultimetly gather information grounded in their perception of "what is going on in the area of interest".

The researchers perception/biases - during data collection.
When asking questions during data collection it is important to be aware of your own perception, in order to be avoid leading the participants to support your percpetion/bias or assumptions. How to manage this???? Well i thouht about it for a while...and decided that clearly identifying my answers to the questions would help me to become aware of "what not to ask" and making sure that i utilise the questions that i have prepared (as well as double checking that the questions i take with me to the interviews are not leading).

What to do if situations. Clearly if something out of the ordinary occurs e.g. i get questioned, interuptions emotional outburst, participants stray from the questions, etc) i need to have guidelines in place in order to get myself and the participants back on track. I plan to go through some scenarios and talk with my superviser about "what to do it scenarios"..

After talking about interviewing we had the chance to analyse an interview - and pick out questions that were leading, or unclear. Also during this we noticed some of the challenges and realities of interviewing. It was really interesting especially when you get a participant where you are consitently "digging" for answers. This made me wonder whether the question were simple enough or prehaps the content within them was hard for the participant to understand. I guess thats what we were talking about "matching the level of the questions to the ability and age of the participants"

Also during this session we observed our questions being used to interview someone else. It was so beneficial to here if the interviewee was struggling to understand what the question was asking...however this may be a challenge during a teleconference!!!!!! but i guess "silence or ummmmmmm" will be the main prompt to reword or clarify what is being asked....

Looking forward to my pilot focus group to test out my interview skills..and see if the questions are going to "work" in my favor to get some discussions going.

Well at least i have some resources to come back to in order to reflect on how it goes, and analyse my interview skills and questions.

Grammar & Good Writing

Wow - today i learnt so so much!!!! The rules, guidelines and conventions of grammar!
I always new i was bad at it - but now im starting to understand all the important aspects of writing to improve grammar.

So Grammar and all the C's! Things that i never really thought about! I mean you know that your writing is ment to make sense..but "HOW" is a different question!
These C's must be present in all pieces of writing!

Clear ~ to help communication style
Complete ~ all info you need to communicate
Consise ~ doesnt have lots of extra bits
Concrete ~ gets to the point, fact, say what you want it to say
Consistent ~ sentance and paragraphs match
Convincing ~ positive about what you are trying to say
Correct ~ quote and citations
Courteous ~ polite when citing others work
Coherent ~ coming together in a way that makes sense

These C's are important in order to make certain the 'reader' gets the message
I think it is so important that we acknowledge that we cannot write as we talk!!!

Equally important is the fact that you have to make the message in the writing clear enough that the reader is not finding themselves asking questions.

Following learning about this we went over some key terms and used examples to show "right" and "wrong" scenarios. This was so interesting!
~adjective - explain and add detail of a noun/pronoun
~adverb - dramatically changes the meaning of a sentance - important to get it in the write place
~article - precedes and may define a noun e.g. a, an, and the.
~conjuction - joining word - be certain that you "need" to use it - may be best to start a new sentance!
~noun - the main concept (person, place, thing or idea).
~participle - "ing" a verb form used as a noun, part of a verb, or an adjective
~ prepositions - pecedes a noun to show relationships
~ pronoun - in stead of repeating the noun e.g. he, she, they, it, that. But the most important thing about this is that you make sure it relates to the right one. A pronoun should relate to the last noun mentioned,
~ verb - action or being word

Other things that i remember are..
***a sentance should be no longer than 3 lines, and have no more than 3 commas
***a sentance needs a noun and a verb!

Learning about this has been so vital and i know that it will help me when i am editing! So i think now it is important that i identify what things i really struggle with when i am writing so that i am concious about what i need to look for when i am editing.

And always remember - it is vital to read out loud to make sure it sounds good and all the c's are included.

Technology set up and data collection process

One of the sessions today in the honours workshop was on recording interviews, the process and follow up.
I had done some thinking and work on this - however i gained a few more ideas and suggestions!

Little things but so vital!
- asking participants to minimise noise for recording (cellphones, jewellery, background noises) - this is so important because participants are likely to be at home where there are many distractions, background noises e.g. family members, computers etc.

-asking participants to have a peice of paper and a pencil (avoid clicking of pens) to jot down thoughts if someone else is speaking in the focus group

-doing a sound check with everyone

- keeping track of if people have answered a questions - however always acknowledge they have talked about the next question and prompt them to say more e.g. "i acknowledge that you mentioned......before... do you have anything else yourd like to add bearing in mind more ideas have been discussed??"

- colour coding papers (e.g. red means end of session; blue means questions etc)

-how to interupt someone - go though processes to ensure they know what is happening

-if you have to stop write down the last 4 words the participant has just said - in order to track back and prompt the participant to gain their thoughts

-what to say if you want someone to clarify what they mean or have not understood at all what they said.. "hmmmmmm is there anything else yourd like to add??"

-maybe instead of asking the participants to not use the name of the new grad (may slip out), ask them to write a name down that starts with the same letter and is the same gender. Then they should write it on paper in front of them to prompt them to use it.

-most importantly trying to get the interaction going within the group, by encouraging participants to comment on what has already been said and add their views, perspeptions or examples.

-lastly to never leave the teleconference/or stop recording untill the last participant has left - just incase they stay on the line and wish to add or just add another vital piece of information.

Another day tomorrow at the honours school - looking forward to it :)

An inspiring lecture

The first hour of our 3rd honours school was spent engaged listenning to a scholar from the OT school at AUT. What a research insiration it was listening about the trends and ideas about occupational science and how it is embedded in the occupational therapy literature (backing up or challenging it). Its great to finally meet the person you have heard about and read articles from.

When discussing the definition of occupation it reinforced to me the need to things about what,how, why, where, and when. The form/function and meaning of occupations. Sounds simple i know but thinking about a persons occupation i firstly think of "what it is" then "how they will/use to do it". As a new graduate in a fast paced acute environment i wondered if i do actually analyse why, where or when.. I'm sure i do but it did make me wonder
For ex. A patient who lives alone wants to and is going to return home in a few days - and needs to be able to function independantly and safely with fatigue .. Reflections on what/where/how/when/why
What-showering/bathing
Where-bathroom environment
How-independatly/assistance using aids or not
When-morning/night, before/after breakfast/tea
Why-return home and fx independantly/safely

So i guess by breaking a situation (assessment/treatment) down i do think about these. But i guess the idea that springs to mind is - if someone has been admitted to hospital there circumstances or conditions have changed, and the challenge is some of these questions may be hard to answer in the ward environment (espec how, and when considering the cognitive fx of the person)

On another note - i learnt that within the occupational therapy literature "we" or researchers are drawing on the knowledge of occupational science in order to back up or challenge our ideas.

I thought it was interesting how there has been an expansion of the research methods. The time georaphic method sounded very interesting to me, and i wondered how useful it would have been for my topic. It could be used to track what new graduates do during the day, there everyday life context - could be quite interesting i think. Mite look into this and see what studies have utilised this method for pure interest.

In addition it was very interesting that the topic of biculturalism came up (so important in New Zealand now). With traditional western perspectives of health which isnt enough in our society. Occupations differ emensly between different cultures, and it is so important that we understand why/how they do in order to continue to provide occupational therapy services that are culturally sensitive. So incorporating the individual in the society, their culture and i guess context and their world views. Ive learnt to understand that this is a huge area that requires research understand the impact of culture and meanings of occupation.

To conclude the final point or idea that i got out of the talk this morning was that "occupational therapist help people do well". Students and OT's often struggle to define what we do in a broad enough way to ensure that we are not understating our potential. I think this definition is great as it has enough scope to then further explain the terms "help" and "do well" e.g.how, what are the means etc.

Literature mindmap

Here is my mindmaps of the current literature about my topic. The key themes are:
Nature of acute physical setting
Demands of the setting
New graduates skills and abilities
Support/Supervision
Clinical decision making and problem solving
Challenges and Opportunities

Now that i have done the mindmap i can know add detail to every aspect of the mind map to ensure that my literature review is detailed enough to justify my decison to explore my topic.

Themes for questioning in the focus group

It was pointed out the me (by one of my supervisers) the importance of having some key themes during data collection. Over the last month i have been working on my questions and having trouble knowing what type of questions to start with and how to approach the data collection process during a focus group. Having themes will not only give me some structure, but it will also prompt me to know what area i need to question participants more on. These key themes have developed as a result of reading the literature about how new grads are transitioning into acute care, and the nature of acute care practice etc.

The key themes are
~New graduate’s ability
~Challenges in acute care
~Support
~Reality of work environment

Jess

Timeline

Draft timeline at this stage

Begin research 18 February 2008

Present initial ideas to Post Grad School 12 March 2008

Proposal due 11 April 2008

Submit for Ethics Approval 9 May 2008

Ethical Approval 3 July

Contacted unit managers 10 July 2008

Present work so far to Post Grad School 21 July 2008

Focus group piloted July 28-1 August 2008

Send off demographic sheets and consent forms August 2008

Data Collection Begins Late August 2008

Data Collection Finishes Late September 2008

Finish analysis 1 October 2008

Present findings to Post Grad School October 2008

Complete final write up 8 December 2008

My obsession with lists and tick boxes

I dont think i would have coped so far, or for the rest of the research process without my obsession with tick boxes, and things to do lists. Sometimes (more like all of the time) people laugh at me for being so obsessed with organisation but i dont see how i would manage with out them. The walls around my desk and computer are filled with calenders, wall planners, things to do lists, helpful words for writing, and a whiteboard with important dates ands things to remember.
There are other things on my wall - pictures; a start chart for exercise; a bus timetable; a map of dunedin; when library books are due; news paper articles etc. But man i guess that just reinforces the type of learner i am - visual/kinesthetic!!!

Am i abnormal????

Getting prepared for data collection

Wow so much to organise at the moment.

Getting the finishing touches done on my letters and information sheets to make sure they include everything.. organising a pilot focus group...finalising focus group questions...finalising teleconference sheet...practicing coding....then doing a literature mind map.
So getting the letters and info sheets away asap to get some participants :) so i can get consent forms and demographic forms in before mid august.
Aiming to start the first focus group in the last two weeks of August - but the biggest goal is to have data collection, analysis and results done by late september! Well see how that goes..

Ive been finding myself glearing at the calender alot lately ~ kinda freeky! Sometimes i freek myself out that im gonna run out of time. But i guess thats what a timeline is for.

Future posts will be on ...
Recriutment of participants; how the pilot focus group goes; how the coding exercise goes

Jess

An updated tick box

Things completed:
• Topic & working title
• Initial literature review
• Proposal
• Ethical approval
• Clear understanding of coding/analysis process
• Clear understanding of strategies to increase rigour/trustworthiness
• Letters/info sheets/demographics form/consent forms ready
• Focus group outline & questions
• Interview questions
• Thesis document/layout reaady to go
• Draft teleconference sheet

Things to do:
• Finalise teleconference sheet
• Set up teleconference account
• Make sure all participant documents are ready to go
• Set up clear schedule for data collection/analysis
• Contact unit managers/professional advisers/team leaders
• Once participants have contacted me expressing their willingness to participate....... Arrange the focus group etc..

Data Collection/Analysis guides

Some guides on large posters so that i can follow them during the data collecton and analysis stages of my study. Hope they will help me - at least by making them they definitly helped me understand the coding procedures!!!!!




The first is the overall process of grounded theory - Constant comparison method.
The second is open coding. The third is axial coding. The fourth is selective coding. :)

Ethical Approval!!!

I got ethical approval today - 5 weeks in total which is great. A few ammendments at the 4 week mark but now im set to begin..starting with contacting unit managers for participants to then get in contact with me. So looks like my timeline is somewhat on track :)
Planned to start data collection late july so i may be a wee bit behind but i think if i am for Aug 1st that give me enough time to seek participants and get consent forms signed etc. Then Aug/Sept could be data collection/analysis month and then at the end of sept i should be finished writing up results. That will give me two months to put everything together and write a discussion/recommendations chapter etc.
So everything is coming along nicely!

Coding & Data analysis

So ive been reading up on coding and trying to sort out the process before i have a trial coding attempt.

So i know there is open and axial coding. Im aiming to present the key steps in each type of coding.

So this is what i think...
Open coding
1) Conceptualising data - taking apart each sentance/line/paragraph e.g. what is it saying?, what does it represent?
2) Discovering categories - grouping concepts that seem to pertain to the same phenomenon e.g. like with like
3) Naming categories - define meaning
4) Develop categories - properties and dimensions

.................Category
.................\
..................\
................... \
.................Properties
.................\ ...........\......................... Dimentionalised
................. \............\
................ Attributes \
...................................\
.................................. Characteristics

Doing open coding

a) line by line - focus group/interviews
Good for generating categories early (basis of theoretical sampling)
Single word, phrase, close examination, very generative

b) Sentance paragraph - interviews
Useful when several categories already defined and now you want to code around them.
"What is the major idea brought out in this sentance/paragraph"

Writing code notes
-important for keeping track of initial concepts to refer back to

Techniques to enhance theoretical sensitivity
-use of questioning
-analysis of a word/phrase/sentance (id. important, interesting, significant works & list possible meanings)
-Comparisons - flip flop technique, close in, far out, waving red flag



Axial coding - putting the data back together in "new ways" - using the paradigm model


The Paradigm model

Images from the net..

Experience so far

I was thinking about how this year has gone and how the research experience has been, so if anyone who asks me "how i found it" i can give them a detailed account...

So there are a few key terms that spring to mind...
Motivation, preparation, proactive, interest in research, knowing how to write, time management, patients, and support.

All of these have contributed to what i understand as "an enjoyable experience" where i feel things are progresing along nicely.
I realised very early on in the research process that motivation is so important. I understand that the topic you are researching not only has to be of interest to you, but you need to really have a passion for or a hunger to find out what what has been documented in the literature in order to narrow your topic. I have found thoughout all steps of the process so far that i constantly come back to the feeling of "i carnt wait to see what the results are going to be".

Research only suits some people...especially for the honours year. Time is definitly a factor, and those who struggle with time management, and organisation skils may find completing a research project in one year difficult. I could imagine how hard it would be if i wasnt organised...i dont even understand the concept of being unorganised - its definitly not the way i role.

So i have learnt - when ever you have time - or are waiting for ethics...there is always something you can do to help you out when you are busy with data collection/analysis. Never say "i dont have anything to do" - its never true. You can never do enough reading about your methodology, around the topic, and in my case rigour and "how to write".

As a novice researcher "reading" and "writing" is important to get to grips with..writing is definitiy one of my weaknesses but i know im not alone on this one. Im lucky enough to have put my hands on some great texts that will help me, and i have had some goog advise from my supervisers e.g. reading outloud, putting together a list of words, how to structure a paragraph. But all i can say is "thank you" for track changes!

All for now

Jess

An interesting conversation

Well i was on a flight back from wellington and sitting next to a guy who was involved with computer science research. I was reading the text i said was an amazing find on qualitative research for occupational therapists and physiotherapists and thats how the conversation got started. We got talking about the differences between OT and computer science research. The interesting thing was that he understood how methodology was so important for qualitative research in the social sciences however he just didn't understand how the results were useful. I talked about how credibility and rigour was so important and he questioned how the participants perceptions were trustworthy. Well all my reading had come to use as i explained to find out what is going on in an area of practice it is important to get the data grounded in the practice area. He also didn't understand why if we thought there was a problem that we just didn't solve it. But i talked about how im looking at the issues and "whats actually happening" - not trying to solve anything. Anyway the flight wasn't long enough to really have a good discussion however i managed to grasp that there are some obvious differences in "what research is defined as" in our different areas. I asked him "how do you know if your problem solving during research is valid and reliable? he didn't use those concepts he just went on the "if it works its right" principle. I wondered if it was research at all..but i guess he was finding out something..
Anyway it was interesting to see his views on qualitative research - but i was glad that i was able to justify why i was doing a qualitative research and not just trying to problem solve. He accepted that "methodology was very important" but i don't think he truly understood the credibility and trustworthiness or reliability and validity of research.

Will post soon - going over ethics letter and amendments with my supervisor today so hopefully will have that sorted within the next few days

Jess

Ethics letter back; Rigour work

Well i got a letter back from the ethics committee - just a few we ammendments to make in regards to
- participants not feeling coerced into participating
- defining the term "working alongside"
- liasing with the treaty compliance group
- management of issues regarding inadequate/unsafe practice

All of which i think are "good points" that i need to incorporate into my research. I had a sigh of relief when only those "issues" came back as i was worried id have to do alot more.. i dont know why i was worried - i guess i just unconciously was preparing myself for the "worst case scenario"..
So over the weekend i made appropriate ammendments and drafted a letter to reply to to the committee. Will go over that this afternoon with my superviser and set it sent away ASAP.
So overall a relatively good outcome id say - glad i did all the work i did before submitting my application!

Oh my gosh! found an amazing text in the library that has made doing the work on rigour so much easier!!! and its a 2008 edition ~ amazing i know! I think i managed to take the whole library home in my bag!
So i have been adding a bit of depth and describing how rigour applies to "research in occupational therapy" and the grounded theory methodology.
So everythings running along smoothly - and timeframes at the moment are right on schedule.

I thnk im going to have to do some indepth reading around coding proceedures during analysis - because i must admit its not all that clear in my head. so il do a bit of reading on that i think

Also im going to finish my annotated bibliography to make things a bit easier when i go over the literature
Followed by another indpeth literature review.

Well plenty to get on with - but im motivated to do it!

Jess

A bit of time up my sleeve!

Well over the next few weeks (7 in fact) i have some time to really get going on my dissertation. I handed my ethics application in a month ago so should be hearing back from them soon...hopefully..

In the mean while i am working on
-The plan for how my focus group will be run
-The specific questions that will guide the discussions
-Rigour and trustworthiness strategies that will increase the validity of my findings

And im also doing some exciting stuff (well i think its exciting). Im working out my format and layout of my dissertation doing all the headings and fonts.Learning alot that i never new you could do on microsoft word hehe

So everything is running along smootly..now that i handed my 4 assignments in today!!! for post grad courses.

Over the next few weeks i should be able to add a posting on "how ethics approval went" - but im told most applications come back needing ammendments. So no stress!!
Oh and i will report my findings re: rigour and how i will enhance the trustworthiness of my study
Got to go and do some reading about rigour..and i have to read my questions again to make sure they wont guide the particpants.

Well all for now

Jess

Where im at..

Well its been a month or so and i think its time to update on where i am at.

I am currently doing the final ammendments to my ethics application - which has been a lenghty learning curve. Developing my writing style is going to be a work in process - but ive had a lot of help on the way. Im learning that reading out loud is vital to get the flow and conguence. In addition i have learnt that many many many drafts is they way things go!

Completing the ethics application has really enabled me to clarify the following:
a) the design of my study
b) how grounded theory influences the development of my study
c) how data collection and analysis works
d) thinking about what may go right or what may go not as planned
e) why i am doing this study

In clarifying all of this i know have a better understanding of where to next, why and most importantly how!!

Over the next we while il be working on structuring the questions for my focus group and doing some reading on "how to do a great focus group" and how to use the method to my advantage - not disadvantage.

So for a run down my methods for data collection will begin with a small focus group, and then individuals will be followed up if they present ideas that i want to further investigate. I think the focus group will provide a great start to begin analysing what the themes are currently for new grads in an acute setting. So it will be vital for me to start with very very open broad questions so that i am not influencing their conversations. As i am going to be "exploring the fit" between new grads in acute physical settings i cannot direct that there is or isnt a fit - thats what i want the particpants to start exploring.

So im looking forward to finding out just really what "experienced" therapists think about the fit - it will be exciting to discover their perception!!!

All for now
Jess

Reading up on grounded theory

Well so far i have read a couple of articles and i think im gaining a better understanding of how i will use it to collect data and analyse it, and also to design my study so that it is congruent with grounded theory.
I understand these things..

♣ Grounded theory is a type of methodology - interpretive paradigm of qualitative research

♣ Interpretive paradigm -

♣ That it is a well organised and systematic approach - good for a novice research as it gives direction; good for small projects as it useful for time bound projects

♣ Analysis of data uses 'constant comparative analysis'

♣ Symbolic interactionism - discover the realities of the research participants, the nature of the objects in their worlds, and how they define and expereince their world. I can sort of see how this is relevant to what i plan to research as i will be aiming to explore the research participants expereince in their acute setting, and the realities of the real world in the acute setting.

♣ Grounded theory is particularly useful in areas where little is known about the phenomenon of interest. Used to generate theory that is grounded in data collection - grounded in the reality of the practice setting.

♣ The focus is on everyday life situations - e.g .this relates to how i am looking at the expereienced therapists having day to day contact with the new graduate therapist

♣ The basic assumptions of grounded theory - analyisis is basically pragmatic - allowing much latitude for ingenutiy and creativity. - there is a lack of "specific rules and procedures" for conducting research. - generating new concepts and theories. - goal of conceptualisation - ability to analyse information well as descriptions are not enough. - rigorous checking and refining of analysis during data collection. - data is analysed and organised after each collection. - data anlaysis and collection are "concurrent" - looking for similarities and differences in the data and considering where to go next to ask questions to clarify emerging theoretical concepts. - open minded reserach but not blank minded research - have to know the topic. -putting aside preconcieved ideas - trying to understand the point of view of participants.- sampling evolves during the process - participants cannot be predicted entriely at the beginning as the reseracher must decide where to move next after data collection and analysis.
Keywords from assumptions
-openmindeness
-no preconceived ideas
-constant comparative analysis - to redefine emerging concepts and categories
-rigourous checking and refining after each data collection
-no specific rules or procedures
-conceptualisation
-concurrent

♣ Best to use Strauss & Corbins Model - as the framework is clear and explicit that is often reassurring for novice researchers. Also it is useful for small studies with tight timeframes. Barrier to using is that an extensive study of the theoretical issues may not be possible.

♣Purpose of study - discovers patterns of behaviour in a particular groupd of people in a certain context - hense interactive paradigm. "discovery" "understanding" and "exploratory". Small study - describe and explain some underlysing social processes shaping interaction and behaviour.
The size of the project determines whether the researcher uses the metholodgy to generate theory or draws on the method as a strategy for qualitative anlaysis. I think i will be drawing on the method as a strategy for qualitative analysis???

♣Research questions are broad, general, flexible and open
e.g. tell me about... how do you manage that...what is the main concern... how do you continuously resolve that???

♣ Skills needed by the grounded theory researcher
-thinking skills
-communication skills
-organisation skills
-creative ability


I dont really understand these things - maybe it would be good to discuss these points?? But i will look for information on these points next
♠ Used to develop "mid range theories" - limited aspects and concepts of the real world - and its realtionship to "symbolic interationism.

♠ Grounded theory is inductive rather than deductive in approach
-Inductive - the theories arrive from data
-Decuctive testing a hypothesis derived from a theory
***Does this relate to the point above and pasted again below??
(Grounded theory is particularly useful in areas where little is known about the phenomenon of interest. Used to generate theory that is grounded in data collection - grounded in the reality of the practice setting)

♠ How to apply the knowledge of this theory to the design of my study!

Working towards my proposal

Things done...
❒ Topic chosen✔
❒ Working title✔
❒ Methodology chosen - Grounded theory qualitative research method✔
❒ Methods - Focus group and individual semi structured interview✔
❒ 1st draft for proposal - and recieved feedback✔

Things to do now
❒ Research and become familiar with "grounded theory"
❒ 2nd draft of proposal and submit by Tuesday 18th March
❒ Reading around focus groups - what makes a good one
❒ Talk to collegues re: senior vs experienced
❒ Complete ethics application and submit by Tuesday 18th March
❒ Have a discussion with superviser(s) about process of supervision etc
❒
❒

So Far....
I am well on my way in the process towards completing my dissertation - but i realise the hard work and committment cannot stop here - i find it has been really easy to get started as it is all so interesting to me and i really have the motivation to get to the end and have some work to contribute to the NZ body of knowledge!!

So i am at my 2nd of 4 workshops for the year - and i can already see my thinking extend - and i am so amazed with how much support and guidence i am getting. The presentations were great - we had the opportunity to present where we are at and get some discussions going following this. I feel this really helped me answer a few questions that have been lingering in my head e.g. do i actually know what i am aiming to get out of this? and why have i chosen to research this etc.
So i have releccted on my performance of the presentation and from this it was advised to me that i might want to think about wrting a blog about my research process and experiences.

I think this will give me the opportunity to wrtie down what problems i am having, how i have tried to solve these, and prehaps just to reflect on where i have been and where i am now/then...

Time will tell - i guess i could right the things i learn...

THINGS I HAVE LEARNT;From the workshop number 2...

- the superviser/supervisee role and the developement of the relationship
- what an ethics committee is and what they look for in the ethics application for a research project
- Gramma!!! -how to link paragraphs when writing, and the importance of not using whoffly sentances - getting to the point and then saying why
- the structure of a literature review and strategies for writing one
- how "peer review" and just talking about things is so great for putting your ideas together in your mind

Untill next time

Jess