| Description |
1 online resource |
| Series |
SAGE Research Methods. Cases |
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SAGE Research Methods. Cases
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| Summary |
The case study describes my experiences as a part time PhD student at the University of Sheffield. It outlines my experiences including the positives and pitfalls encountered when conducting my study. The study was an exploration of the impact of being an informal carer for a person with palliative heart failure on carer quality of life and factors influential to a carer's perception of caring. My study was mixed methods and involved an explanatory sequential design. A sample of carers was recruited from heart failure nurse caseloads in UK rural and urban settings. Carers were invited to complete the Family Quality of Life questionnaire, a quantitative instrument developed for carers of heart failure patients. Participants were also asked to provide contact details if they were willing to be interviewed in Phase 2 of the study. Each heart failure nurse was given 20 questionnaires. A third of carers who returned the completed questionnaires agreed to participate in a semi-structured interview. Initially, the response rate was good, but questionnaire returns gradually decreased over a few weeks. It transpired that due to the nature of the service delivery, on average each nurse distributed five questionnaires during a 3-month period resulting in low numbers of participants in Phase 1 of the study. My experience highlighted important methodological considerations for recruiting carers into research. Due to the gradual returns of the questionnaires, I was concerned that, if the first phase of the study extended over a lengthy period, there is a risk that those participants who had agreed to be interviewed may no longer be interested or due to the nature of heart failure, no longer be caring for the person as the patient may have died. Reflecting on this methodological dilemma, to not compromise the sequential design of the study, I set an end date for the quantitative phase but recognized that this would reduce the responses for Phase 1. However, by setting an end date, I was able to begin the quantitative analysis prior to commencing Phase 2 of the study in a timely manner to not lose carers who had expressed an interest in being interviewed |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references and index |
| Notes |
Description based on XML content |
| Subject |
Caregivers -- Research -- Case studies.
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Heart failure -- Palliative treatment -- Research -- Case studies.
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Mixed methods research -- Case studies.
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| Genre/Form |
Case studies.
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Case studies.
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| Form |
Electronic book
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| Author |
Barnes, Sarah, author
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Dawson, Jeremy, author
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| ISBN |
1526419696 |
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9781526419699 (ebook) |
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