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This methodological guidance paper discusses the craft of reviewing qualitative research for a systematic review. Qualitative research is an expansive and wide-ranging domain that includes research from different disciplines, for different purposes, following different methodological traditions, and employing a variety of data collection and analysis methods. While many aspects of reviewing qualitative research are similar to reviewing quantitative research, the essay focuses on five central tasks: (1) clarifying purpose(s), (2) defining research quality, (3) situating the research in relevant contexts, (4) adding it up, and (5) practicing reflexivity—that every reviewer of qualitative research engages in. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Letter writing was used as a qualitative research strategy to access the narratives of individuals living in rural poverty. Undergraduate social work students in a freshman seminar course were paired with participants of a local agency to engage in a letter writing exchange about life experiences. Community members who volunteered to participate in the letter-writing exchange were identified via their participation in services offered by a local, community-based agency that is situated in a rural community. In the fall of 2018, a sample of 20 community members and 28 students participated in two rounds of letter exchange. Findings: The letter-writing exchange was an effective way to collect data. The content of the letters enhanced students' understanding of the daily experiences of individuals living in rural poverty. Data collected demonstrated that social isolation remains a central concern among poor, rural residents. Letter writing supported a sense of personal connection between students and community members; these social connections may have attenuated the pain of social isolation that many community members experience. Applications: Narrative inquiry and the use of letter writing as a research methodology allowed us access to greater understanding about the lived experience of rural poverty. People living in rural poverty experience a layered isolation that keeps them separate from resources and each other. Letter writing provided connection and rich data that enhanced our understanding of this community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As part of an advanced doctoral course on representing qualitative research, the authors used collage to represent either who they were as researcher or the research they were conducting. The authors, comprised of the course professor and seven doctoral students, read about collage as inquiry and research representation and then participated reflexively in a course lecture on the background of collage, a collage creation activity, a gallery walk, written and oral reflection on each other's collages, a research poster presentation at a campus research event, and a final reflection of the entire process. As the process unfolded the authors represented the experience in the form of a collective collage poem, and a methodological and pedagogical article. Elements of this article include a review of collage as an art and research inquiry form, an overview of the pedagogical experiences, and the authors' experiences shared in the form of brief vignettes and collage images. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reflects on the process of undertaking qualitative research with incarcerated individuals and prison staff in selected Ghana prisons. The challenges encountered during the planning, approval, and fieldwork stages, as well as measures adopted to address these challenges, have been discussed. The paper aims to serve as a guide to novel prison researchers in the sub-Saharan African context, given that the majority of studies on challenges and approaches to conducting prison research have come from jurisdictions outside the region. To this end, given the unique nature of the prison governance system in Ghana and other sub-Saharan African countries, this paper contributes to filling a knowledge gap in qualitative prison research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we outline our qualitative protocol for the largest, independent, mixed-method, evaluation of the High Volume-Low Complexity Surgical Hubs programme in England – The MEASURE study. In addition to serving as a protocol paper, we outline the key methodological considerations and adaptations that are needed when designing big qualitative studies – complex (multi-site, multi-stakeholder), multi-method (e.g. interviews, observations, documents) qualitative research involving a large number of participations (n = 100+). This paper expands on our previous methodological work, where we used our experience of undertaking a big qualitative study as part of a mixed-method evaluation of a national emergency care-based initiative, to outline the methodological considerations and uncertainties for designing and analysing "big" qualitative studies. In this paper, we put these considerations into practice by providing a transparent account of our qualitative study design. The methodological reflections which we present are centred around the areas where we feel there is the most uncertainty for big qualitative research: study design, sampling (of case sites and stakeholders) and analysis. Underpinning this uncertainty are broader challenges which utilising this approach incite. Namely, that striving for both breadth (national-level insights) and depth (local variation and context), challenges paradigmatic norms and expectations and forces either methodological innovation, or the adaption of existing qualitative methods. We hope this paper provides transparency and insight into an area of qualitative research which has, potentially due to a perception of "safety in numbers" been inherently trusted and rarely scrutinised. Ultimately, we hope that by providing a transparent account of our study design and the challenges we have faced that we continue to encourage discussion and innovation in this evolving area of qualitative research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper draws together critical learnings from diverse qualitative health research projects in Australia that sought to shift power and focus on the strengths and expertise of people with lived experience who are involved as co-researchers. These projects have included exploring and challenging identities, understanding experiences in treatment programs, critiquing and designing/re-designing services, and sharing experiences with the wider community in novel and innovative ways. Lived experiences included alcohol and other drug dependency, mental health, domestic, family or sexual violence, and living with HIV. This paper provides important learnings and actions about partnering with co-researchers with lived experience. In this paper we draw on a process of reflective discussions that occurred over six months with fortnightly online meetings between co-researchers, including co-authors with lived experience external to academia and university-based researchers, some of whom also have lived-experience that intersects with their research. From this, we distilled key learnings across seven themes: (1) the ethics of ethics, which highlights a need for constant reflection on the ethical issues in co-research; (2) recruiting co-researchers, which focuses on ensuring and integrating a diversity of voices; (3) creating safety for all, which must be a priority of engagement and support self-determination; (4) supporting different ways of partnering, which emphasises the need for diverse roles and ways to contribute on research teams; (5) capacity building and training, which requires ongoing evaluation of needs and tailored responses; (6) positioning, which highlights the need to transition from the idea of vulnerability to a strengths-based perspective of lived experience; and (7) power plays, reflecting the need to disrupt the dynamics and established hierarchies of privileging certain forms of knowledge and expertise. The paper includes recommendations for action against these seven themes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regarding debates over researcher insider/outsider positionalities in the field of migration studies, many scholars have proposed various explanations. Some scholars studying migrant populations note that migrant scholars who share identities such as nationality, language, religion, race, ethnicity etc. with their study participants are usually perceived as insiders. Other scholars, however, contend that dynamics of insider/outsider positionalities are situationally shaped during researcher-participant interactions in fieldwork. There is now wide consensus among many scholars that shared social identities between researchers and study participants do not automatically position researchers as insiders. Drawing on secondary literature and my fieldwork encounters, this paper contributes to these debates by proposing typologies for migration researchers to use as analytical tools. The three typologies that map out insider/outsider dynamics during researcher-participant encounters in fieldwork are presuming ethnic insiderness/outsiderness, presuming national insiderness/outsiderness and the indeterminate fieldwork context. This paper argues that researchers' insider/outsider positionalities should not be viewed as pre-determined or fixed formations but as uncertain and situationally constituted. I further argue that migration researchers should not enter the fieldwork with an assumption of automatic insiderness or outsiderness but that they need to view their insider or outsider positionalities as emerging during encounters with research participants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This scoping review offers insight into researcher well-being when working with sensitive and traumatic topics in a qualitative research context. The study identified existing empirical research concerning researcher well-being and mental health. The databases included SSCI, ASSIA < IBISS, Scopus, Social Policy and Practice, PsycInfo, Social Science Database/Social Science Premium Collection (Proquest), and Open Grey. An international search was conducted, with no time constraints on publication dates to gather as wide a selection as possible. 55 papers met the criteria. We found that the terminology used within the papers was not consistent which necessitated grouping the (self-) reflection/reflexive practices researchers used and categorizing them under the umbrella term SRR practices. The research questions were: 1. Which disciplines or fields are conducting SRR practices on sensitive topics? 2. What SRR practices do researchers employ in the context of sensitive research? 3. What were the self-reported outcomes from using SRR practices as a tool of researchers working on sensitive research? A key finding of the scoping review is that many researchers who work on sensitive topics feel unprepared and receive little or no training or support for SRR practices. This poses particular challenges for early career researchers. We also identified that qualitative researchers have developed a range of SRR practices to manage the emotional impact of their sensitive research work. Many authors of the scoped papers stress the importance of peer-support as well as formal and informal debriefing meetings. Another key SRR practice discussed by many researchers is reflexive journaling. Our scoping review suggests that if it is combined with other activities, self-reflexive journaling can be an excellent way to acknowledge and assess the emotional impact of sensitive research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper experiments with the use of literary analysis for the interpretation of participants' writing. The dataset comprises 56 'Reports' in response to a 2019 Mass Observation Directive. Mass Observation is a British archive. Its aim is to record everyday life through correspondents' responses to thrice-yearly Directives. The paper contributes to lyrical sociology with its development of 'textural' analysis. The 2019 Directive asked volunteers to submit reports on what was on their mantelpieces and also about their treasured objects. I found this writing highly allusive of two literary works: Tom Stoppard's play Arcadia, and the 'Catalogue of Ships' in Homer's ancient Greek epic poem, the Iliad. This led me not only to review the earlier reports but also to consider how literature can enrich the interpretation of participants' writing. In conclusion, I argue that following up allusive 'hunches' can result in fruitful literary analysis, as a 'textural' approach to sociological method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Argumentation is a fundamental communicative ability that children develop over time through formal schooling and daily practice with peers and family members. Literature on children's argumentation appears to have focused on their social interactions out of school, clinical environment, or informal pedagogic contexts. Even though there are research inquiries into children's argumentation in formal academic learning, many have been focused on argumentative writing in math or science classes. Much less is known about teacher-led argumentation and the youngest children's emerging argumentation in language art classes, where argumentation is formally and systematically introduced and learned. This paper reports a year-long ethnographic study on argumentation in a first-grade English language art classroom in the United States. Ethnographic discourse analysis was conducted to analyze two key literacy events from the daily reader's and writer's workshop. It is supplemented with qualitative analysis of the researchers' field notes and the students' artifacts. Our findings highlight the inherent intertextual nature of children's argumentation and a critical role the teacher played in eliciting and steering the children's argumentation construction through strategic instructional conversations (especially accountable talk). Our findings also revealed teacher-led children's intertextual argumentation as a powerful heuristic process and tool to enrich students' learning. The paper concludes some classroom argumentation teaching practices based on the research findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As previous research has observed, medical students and physicians alike confront vast amounts of knowledge in their education and practice, such that no one clinician can know everything there is to know about biomedicine. Even before clerkships, medical students learn to cope with this impossibility by prioritizing certain information based on its perceived utility for exams and clinical practice. Many factors can shape this process, including teamwork, wherein individual medical students rely on one another to address gaps in knowledge at the level of the group. This paper will draw on qualitative data from two allopathic medical schools in the American Midwest to demonstrate that peer-to-peer learning, a widely utilized pedagogical modality in North American medical schools, is amongst the earliest places where future physicians learn how to rely on their peers in the profession as they make choices about what to know and what not to know about biomedicine: cultivating a culture of "intraprofessionalism" between students with different knowledges and values, as they prepare to enter the same profession. The paper will also consider how differences in the student populations at two field sites impact intraprofessional development. Drawing on scholarship of peer-based learning strategies and the sociology and anthropology of medical education, the authors argue that peer-to-peer learning is a key site in the professional socialization of medical students toward the effective management of medical knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Fresno, California, is home to more than 30,000 Hmong. The purpose of this research was to explore the utilization of Hmong shamans 40 years after the first Hmong immigrants arrived in the United States. Hmong shamanism is examined to identify and analyze changes to shamans' practices or patients. Methods: Using grounded theory, semistructured interviews were conducted with a convenience sample of 20 shamans in their homes. Transcribed data were qualitatively analyzed. Results: Shamans continue to train and practice in this community; utilization by older patients persists while young adult patients have become the fastest-growing group of users. Healing rituals have changed in response to the legalities of animal sacrifice in urban areas and the time demands of work schedules. Discussion: Nurses' awareness that the availability of biomedicine does not preclude the continuing or recurring utilization of traditional healers can facilitate understanding of culturally defined health care needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional qualitative inquiry research methods exhort us to look for the 'good' story tellers who use metaphors to describe their experiences, emotions, and events. This privileges abled-bodied individuals, meaning that without full individual accessibility for people with disability is not achieved. The objective of this paper is to present a case study on inclusion of research participants who live with deafblindness. This case study posits where qualitative story telling spaces currently are; whose voices occupy these narratives; what is said and how it is said: and the performative aspects of the qualitative inquiry currently. Research including people with disability is reflected in the evidence base, however the question that if qualitative methods don't seek to explore and understand these differences, epistemic injustices will be perpetrated. The case study reflects on a research project whose methodology sought to solicit hospital experiences for those living with deafblindness. The Australian study of 18 deafblind participants with wide ranging communication needs, shared in-depth narrative inquiry stories told in: 'snapshots' of moments of disempowerment; through sign and vibrotactile communication; usage of the strong verb with metaphor rarely present except to exclusively describe instances of dehumanisation. Narrative inquiry method when used with people who are deafblind is predominately chaotic with some tense instability for non-signing participants. Emphasis is via repetition, altered pitch and expletives. Touch centricity is fundamental. Dissonance is evident between words used and stories told. The thematic analysis identified a need to reflect epistemically across the creation of any qualitative project from beginning to end, focussing on what is being said and how it is being said or signed or felt. The conclusion of the paper provides a roadmap for future projects to ensure improvements in the enhancing of awareness of different ways of being, doing and telling in qualitative research methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the COVID-19 pandemic halting all in-person research in March 2020, many researchers adopted virtual methods to continue their work amid this global crisis. As the pandemic persisted and the safety of participants and researchers remained a priority, virtual research grew in popularity for qualitative researchers. This in turn led to methodological insights on the application and advantages of conducting qualitative research using virtual methods. Virtual methods have been found to enhance participant comfort, facilitate open discussion of sensitive topics, alleviate fatigue in participants and researchers, and result in more engaging and focused interviews. While the body of evidence supporting virtual methods of data collection for nursing and other healthcare disciplines continues to grow, its application in the long-term care (LTC) setting remains underreported. In this paper, we discuss the virtual methods that we developed and implemented to successfully conduct a virtual qualitative single case study in a Canadian LTC home during the COVID-19 pandemic. Considerations from existing literature on virtual methods are discussed in parallel with strategies we implemented to successfully conduct a virtual study in LTC. This paper contributes to the growing body of literature on methodological insights into conducting virtual qualitative research in LTC. We provide evidence-based strategies for the virtual recruitment of study sites, study participants including residents, team members and families, and virtual data collection methods. These recommendations offer insights to overcome challenges and maximize the advantages of virtual methods, to enhance the quality and rigour of virtual qualitative research conducted within LTC settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite being subject to criticism, qualitative research methodology remains a unique and valuable approach in collecting rich and informative data. However, this may vary from one context to another and researchers understanding of the context. Grounded on the decolonization notion of qualitative research, this paper explains leeways and obstacles in conducting research, reflecting upon the procedural and practical aspects that represent the reality in Tanzania based on two cases. Our paper emphasizes that it is essential to understand and capture the real-world reflective of the voices of the population whom the study targets, which may be easier for local/native researchers. This is because the local/native researchers may be able to explain the research processes and findings in consideration of the socio-cultural settings and political environment. The paper acknowledges that qualitative research requires patience and time, which may have financial implications. It also acknowledges that some populations are facing research fatigue exacerbated by inadequate research dissemination plans. Understanding the context of the study area or topic and applying appropriate methodological approaches to overcome obstacles and gather required adequate and relevant information is thus of importance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Content analysis, initially a quantitative technique for identifying patterns in qualitative data, has evolved into a widely used qualitative method. However, this evolution has resulted in a confusing array of differing qualitative content analysis approaches that lack clear distinction from other methods. To address these issues, this paper introduces reflexive content analysis, a transtheoretical and flexible researcher-oriented method for the description and reduction of manifest qualitative data. RCA is used to identify patterns in the overt surface meanings of qualitative data through the use of a hierarchical structure of quantifiable analytical strata called codes, subcategories, and categories. Each stratum exists on a continuum of abstraction with codes being the closest to the original data and categories being the most abstract. During each stage of the RCA process, reflexivity is regarded as a valuable analytical resource that is crucial for ensuring adequate description of the data. RCA is intended to be used as method for data analysis, not a methodology, and therefore can be integrated with various methodological and epistemological approaches. This paper provides an introductory guide to conducting RCA. It first presents an overview of existing challenges in qualitative content analysis methods, followed by a rationale for the development of RCA. Then, the foundational principles of RCA and key concepts that support this method are discussed. The paper culminates by outlining the process for conducting an inductive RCA within a qualitative framework, using a previous application of this method as a reference point. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the creation of organisations via people processing (Prottas 1979), taking as its case study a new and developing family centre that aims to offer various social and health services under the same roof. The study draws on ethnomethodology, meaning that organisations are herein understood as being created and continuously produced in and through interaction. The data consist of 11 audio-recorded meetings from the centre's steering group, which includes managers from different service fields and welfare agencies. In analysing the creation of the centre through people processing, this paper scrutinises how the meeting participants orient themselves toward and produce the centre's client categories, what characteristics they connect to these categories, and how they do boundary work regarding which categories belong or not to the centre's target groups. The meeting participants produce three different family based client categories. The first category is ordinary families, those without any special problems who just pop into the centre to see other people. These families are distinguished from the second category, best matching families, who are defined as having problems that would benefit from the integrated, multi-professional work conducted at the centre. The third category, families with too specific needs, refers to client groups whose service needs are at least partly beyond the centre's expertise and resources. The centre needs these people-processing activities to make sense of its mission, clients and co-partners; this ongoing reasoning process allows the emerging centre to exist and find its place in the local service system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how presuppositional interviews can develop reflexive transparency in grounded theory methodologies. Grounded Theory aims to generate understanding of a given socio-psychological process using a systematic methodology for gathering, analysing and interpreting data. As the researcher is intrinsic to this process, reflexivity is an essential tool to explore and challenge the researcher unknown presuppositions that influence the research process and findings. Reflexivity in practice is challenging as it aims at identifying unknown influences which are by nature, hidden. In this paper, we demonstrate how presuppositional interviews can be applied to Classic and Constructivist grounded theory, and to qualitative research in general. We illustrate this process with two practical case studies, demonstrating how the presuppositional interview can be utilised to enhance transparent reflexive practice. We suggest the presuppositional interview enables higher levels of reflexivity and subsequent positive impact on praxis and the research process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article argues that qualitative researchers should focus more attention on producing locally causal explanations for social phenomena. To enable qualitative researchers to achieve this goal, this paper introduces a novel, step-by-step methodology for analysing qualitative data called the 'Realist Phenomenological Method'. The Realist Phenomenological Method does not represent a novel philosophical insight because several studies have already adopted a realistic phenomenological approach in a philosophical context. Rather, this article's novelty lies in its methodological contribution. The introduction of the Realist Phenomenological Method marks an advancement in qualitative research because it is the first formalized analytical methodology to merge methods inspired by critical realism and descriptive phenomenology. Furthermore, this method represents an advancement in qualitative research due to it enabling qualitative researchers to produce causal explanations for social phenomena. This advancement has important implications for qualitative researchers who aim to influence public policy, as any public policymaker who wants to suggest how a social problem can be addressed must first possess an awareness of what is causing the problem. This article begins by introducing the need for a new outlook on causality in qualitative research and outlining how inspiration has been taken from critical realism and descriptive phenomenology in designing the Realist Phenomenological Method. The step-by-step methodology of the Realist Phenomenological Method is then introduced, and an account is provided of how this novel methodology can advance understandings around causal explanations in qualitative research and social science. Interview extracts taken from the author's doctoral dissertation are then used to frame each stage of the Realist Phenomenological Method and demonstrate how the method can be implemented effectively. The paper concludes that the Realist Phenomenological Method can be useful to both qualitative researchers and policymakers who aim to address social issues through effectively identifying the causes of such problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Each year the editorial team of the American Journal of Health Promotion selects our "Best of the Year List" of health promotion studies from the prior year. This editorial features the Editor's Picks Awards, the Editor in Chief Awards, the Michael P. O'Donnell Award and the Dorothy Nyswander Award for the best research and writing published in 2023 in this journal. Our criteria for selection includes: whether the study addresses a topic of timely importance in health promotion, the research question is clearly stated and the study methods used are well executed; whether the paper is often cited and downloaded; if the study findings offer a unique contribution to the literature; and if the paper is well-written and enjoyable to read. Awardees in 2023 offered new insights into legal issues related to obesity and LGBTQ+ discrimination, the role of employers in the use of lifestyle medicine and the influence of Cannabis use on depression and suicide behaviors. This "best of 2023 list" featured studies based in communities, health systems, workplaces and schools and includes case studies and qualitative and quantitative research methods that enabled researchers to better explain what amplifies or hampers well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This conceptual paper proposes that all methodologies create a footprint like the carbon footprint. Design and implementation of new methodologies require limited resources and funding, and these resources are not equitably distributed on a global scale. Thus, we argue for more ecological uses of methodologies, especially in the context of data collection and interdependent relations of knowledge/information creation. Like the excessive use of energy sources, potentially unnecessary productions of new data, information, and evidence should not be regarded as unproblematic, let alone virtuous. Rather, qualitative researchers, funding agencies, and other bodies that evaluate research, should question whether new data, information, evidence are needed and at what cost. We also propose more data recycling, data sharing, open access data, and other ecological ways of supporting shared knowledge and monitoring excessive data production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the dominance of ableist narratives, there is a distinct lack of diversity of participants and geographies in education research with students with disabilities. To address this lack, we developed podcasting as a method for DisCrit-informed qualitative research in the form of a pilot project for the first author's doctoral study on the experiences of acquired disability as intersected with policy, race, gender, sexuality, religion, and nationality. Using writing as method of inquiry, in this paper, we reflect on moments of questioning, tensions, challenges, and ethical ponderings that we encountered throughout the creation of the podcast project. These tensions include questions about what digging deep means in DisCrit research, the challenges of negotiating power, ethics, and care, questioning whose stories are worth telling and who gets to tell them and, finally, the epistemological provocations we rubbed against. Specifically, we argue that the creative, digital, and culturally specific properties of podcasting offer a counterstorying approach to ableism, by generating situated knowing about living with a disability. Podcasting, as a DisCrit-informed qualitative approach, may enable researchers' abilities to develop rich, nuanced, and detailed understandings of experiences of disabilities, across geographies, identities, and contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on two multilingual qualitative datasets (Korean/English and German/English), this paper examines the dual role and positionalities of two researchers who simultaneously act as translators, as well as the implications of this dual role for multilingual qualitative research. This work is informed by transnational feminist translation studies and transnational feminist approaches to qualitative research, and founded on the two researchers' intimate familiarity with their participants' languages, contexts, and meaning-making processes. Considering the complexity of this familiarity, this work presents unique dilemmas—challenges and opportunities—with respect to translating, representing, and writing about multilingual qualitative data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Reflexive thematic analysis is widely used in qualitative research published in Palliative Medicine, and in the broader field of health research. However, this approach is often not used well. Common problems in published reflexive thematic analysis in general include assuming thematic analysis is a singular approach, rather than a family of methods, confusing themes and topics, and treating and reporting reflexive thematic analysis as if it is atheoretical. Purpose: We reviewed 20 papers published in Palliative Medicine between 2014 and 2022 that cited Braun and Clarke, identified using the search term 'thematic analysis' and the default 'relevance' setting on the journal webpage. The aim of the review was to identify common problems and instances of good practice. Problems centred around a lack of methodological coherence, and a lack of reflexive openness, clarity and detail in reporting. We considered contributors to these common problems, including the use of reporting checklists that are not coherent with the values of reflexive thematic analysis. To support qualitative researchers in producing coherent and reflexively open reports of reflexive thematic analysis we have developed the Reflexive Thematic Analysis Reporting Guidelines (the RTARG; in Supplemental Materials) informed by this review, other reviews we have done and our values and experience as qualitative researchers. The RTARG is also intended for use by peer reviewers to encourage methodologically coherent reviewing. Key learning points: Methodological incoherence and a lack of transparency are common problems in reflexive thematic analysis research published in Palliative Medicine. Coherence can be facilitated by researchers and reviewers striving to be knowing – thoughtful, deliberative, reflexive and theoretically aware – practitioners and appraisers of reflexive thematic analysis and developing an understanding of the diversity within the thematic analysis family of methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2020–2021, a qualitative study was undertaken using an interpretive description methodology to identify what triggers grief in the first 2 years following the death of a beloved family member, and to gain other helpful insights about grief triggers from bereaved Canadian adult volunteers. In that study, a purposive sampling method was used to select 10 bereaved Canadian adult volunteers for in-depth, semi-structured interviews. This paper reports on the humor findings, as revealed to be a particularly complex grief trigger for many participants, as well as a periodic way for most to manage or live with their grief. Participant quotes and an extended discussion are included to illustrate the importance of these humor findings in relation to grief, and to inform bereaved people, bereavement service providers, and the general public about both helpful aspects and some cautionary considerations about humor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adverse maternal and infant health outcomes among African Americans are increasingly recognized as indicators of a critical public health crisis in the United States. Research has found that stress is related to structural racism and the social determinants of health (SDOH) that cause avoidable, unfair inequities in resources, education, power, and opportunities across ethnic groups. This paper describes the SDOH needs and experiences of pregnant Black women from the perspective of doulas and Birthing Beautiful Communities (BBC) clients. The design was a qualitative description, using data collected over time (2017–2018, 2020–2021, and 2023). This study took place in Cleveland and Akron, Ohio and the sample included 58 clients, 26 doulas, and 2 resource intake specialist assistants (RISAs). Qualitative data included individual client interviews, three doula focus groups, and one interview with two BBC RISAs. Three coders used content analysis to deductively identify SDOHs and calculate the number of interviews that contained information about specific SDOHs. Although the sample reported issues with all SDOH, particular ones caused a cascade of SDOH effects. Transportation issues, for example, impeded women from being able to make it to work, doctor's appointments, and to purchase essential baby items (e.g., food, infant supplies). An inability to work—whether because of transportation challenges or pregnancy-related health complications—led to unstable housing and an inability to deal with transportation challenges. Many clients mentioned that housing was a major issue, with many clients experiencing housing instability. Implications include ensuring SDOH information is collected from a trusted source who can advocate and ensure access to a wide range of local resources, ensuring policies protect pregnant women from experiencing a cascade of SDOH that may contribute to continuing health disparate infant and maternal health outcomes in African American women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

'Open Science' advocates for open access to scientific research, as well as sharing data, analysis plans and code in order to enable replication of results. However, these requirements typically fail to account for methodological differences between quantitative and qualitative research, and serious ethical problems are raised by the suggestion that full qualitative datasets can or should be published alongside qualitative research papers. Aside from important ethical concerns, the idea of sharing qualitative data in order to enable replication is conceptually at odds with the underpinnings on most qualitative methodologies, which highlight the importance of the unique interpretative function of the researcher. The question of whether secondary analysis of qualitative data is acceptable is key, and in this commentary we argue that there are good conceptual, ethical and economic reasons to consider how funders, researchers and publishers can make better use of existing data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Asynchronous email interviewing has been increasingly utilized as an electronic method of data collection in qualitative research, because it eliminates the need for costly travel and transcription and allows more time for participants to react with thoughtful, reflective responses. While research indicates that data collected in written form is comparable in content and richness with that collected in-person, via telephone, or through virtual live interactions, there is the risk of participant attrition, loss of trust-building with subjects and missing non-verbal/visual cues for the researcher. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate use of asynchronous email interviewing as applied to a study on expectations and demands of chaplains in hospital settings. Unique in this approach is the inclusion of multiple participant groups over a large geographical area. Data were collected among chaplains, chaplain leaders, nurses, hospital executives, and patients and family members across a multi-state healthcare system. Although enrollment was adequate, 37% of those enrolled did not respond to initial interview emails, and of those who did respond, only 42% responded to follow-up questions. For several participants who did not respond to requests for email interviews, subsequent invitations to participate in live virtual interviews were preferred. Analysis reflected significant differences between groups in the quantity, quality, and richness of data, which may reflect communication patterns and preferences, time restrictions, and subject matter engagement. Based on study findings, it is suggested that similar studies offer options of interview modalities to participants to best meet their preferences and schedules. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Results of our previous research indicated that older adults believe that there's a lack of sufficient social support from informal sources available to them in difficult situations they face. In follow-up research, we found that older adults defined limitation in their self-sufficiency in daily activities to be the most significant difficult situation for them. This paper disseminates the results of the research seeking to answer the research question: According to older adults, can family be a source of social support in a difficult situation of limitation of self-sufficiency in daily activities? Social support theory is the used theoretical basis. Using the method of qualitative content analysis we analysed 23 semi-structured interviews with older adults. Findings: We found that if two conditions, that is, geographic proximity to individual family members and the quality of relationships with family members, are ensured, family can function as one of the informal sources of social support according to older adults. In case that older adults prefer a formal source of social support, they consider their family as a source of social support only in an extreme situation of limited self-sufficiency. Applications: This study provides social workers with a better understanding of the difficult situations of older adults and what kind of social support older adults prefer. This study also provides an argumentation about the importance of gerontological social work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

GRADE-CERQual (Confidence in the Evidence from Reviews of Qualitative research) was developed to support the use of evidence from qualitative reviews within policy- and decision-making. To date, the approach has been applied predominantly to aggregative synthesis methodologies and descriptive review findings. GRADE-CERQual guidance recommends the approach be tested on more diverse review methodologies and outputs to support its evolution. This paper contributes to this evolution by reflecting on our experiences of applying GRADE-CERQual to findings that emerged from a recent Cochrane meta-ethnography on childhood vaccination. Specifically, we describe the similarities and differences, challenges and dilemmas we experienced applying the approach to more interpretive versus more descriptive review findings. We found that we were able to apply the core criteria and principles of GRADE-CERQual in ways that were congruent with the methodologies and epistemologies of a meta-ethnography and its findings. We also found that the practical application processes were similar across review finding types. The main differences related to the level of demand placed on the evidence and the level of complexity involved with the decisions. Compared to more descriptive findings, more interpretive findings required evidence that was richer, thicker, more contextually situated and methodologically stronger for us to have the same level of confidence in them. Making the assessments for these findings also involved more complicated forms of judgement. We provide practical examples to illustrate these complexities and how we approached them, which others applying GRADE-CERQual to more interpretive review findings could draw upon. We also highlight areas requiring further discussion, in the hope that this will offer a platform for engagement and the potential future refinement of the approach. Ultimately, this could enhance the usability of GRADE-CERQual for a larger range of qualitative review findings and in turn expand the kinds of knowledges that count within decision-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) play a central role in clinical research and patient care resulting in a plethora of standardized PROMs to measure a range of constructs, including disease symptoms, health-related quality of life, and health status (Meadows/Reaney) used in a range of settings, including the nursing environment. However, the use of PROMs in drug development and their use in healthcare evaluation do not easily marry together. In drug development, standardization of measurement is key to the interpretation of the formation at a population level with minimal biases. However, in health care, the individual patient perspective, priority, and needs should be taken into account whereas, in the clinical encounter, one has to also deal with what is particular and unique. The purpose of this paper is to describe the characteristics of the phenomenological method as a means within a mixed-method framework, to supplement participants' patient-reported outcome numeric scores with a more in-depth commentary on the essence of the lived health experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Available research emphasizes the importance of getting a systematic overview of inpatient aggression in forensic psychiatric care. However, the same research does not focus on how systematic aggression registration should be introduced in clinical practice. To facilitate the use of systematic aggression registration instruments, it is very relevant to gain insight into the perspective of staff members on the introduction of these instruments in daily clinical practice. Additionally, preconditions for achieving a successful implementation can be considered. Therefore, this study aims to gain insight into the perspective of the staff members on the implementation of a systematic aggression registration instrument—that is, the MOAS—in a forensic psychiatric unit. Interviews (n = 8) and a focus group with staff members were carried out. Three main themes: (1) creating the most appropriate context for introduction, (2) choice for the MOAS as relevant instrument, and (3) perpetuating the use of the MOAS in clinical practice are scrutinized. The mentioned preconditions can be used as guidelines when implementing systematic aggression registration in clinical practice. We hope that this paper can inspire other forensic psychiatric facilities to introduce systematic registration of aggressive incidents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Cancer remains a significant health burden in Nigeria and requires the efforts of all stakeholders to address it. Little is known about how the worldviews of Nigerian patients with cancer and other institutional factors affect cancer management in Nigeria. This paper draws evidence from an ethnonursing study conducted in a Nigerian cancer care setting. Method: This study adopted a qualitative design using an ethnonursing approach. The study was conducted in one of the primary cancer treatment centers owned by the federal government of Nigeria. Data collection was conducted using participant observation, interviews, and field notes. Data collected were analyzed using NVivo 12 and presented as categories and sub-categories. Results: Analysis yielded two themes and seven sub-themes. The major themes included (1) dominant worldview and (2) institutional/contextual factors. Participants attributed life, living, and death as being controlled by a supreme being. Cancer care was constrained by unfavorable institutional factors such as lack of equipment, staffing, and intensified workload. Discussion: Cancer institutions should provide more cancer care infrastructure that will facilitate the work of nurses and other health care workers. There should be an enabling environment that would attract and retain nurses in the cancer wards. The hospital environment should be made conducive for the cancer care providers, patients with cancer, and their relatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Listening Guide (LG) is a relational, voice-centered method to analyzing qualitative research data. This article provides an account of how the LG was modified for a study that examined personal critical reflection papers written by 27 fourth-year dietetics university students after they participated in an arts-informed module on body image in a dietetics professional practice course. By relying on the main principles of the LG, we demonstrate how the LG can help us to listen and hear previously unnoticed and underappreciated voices. The purpose of this article is to serve as a source of guidance and support for researchers looking to implement the LG method beyond its original purpose, which was for transcribed interviews. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper, on qualitative thematic analysis (QTA) in social change research, falls somewhere between a reflective piece and a how-to guide. Using two examples from my own previous research, I discuss why QTA in the field of social change or social justice, which often analyzes the words of vulnerable, marginalized, or underserved populations, is so fraught, so contested, and so often dismissed. Qualitative thematic analysis of interviews or focus groups is a common research tool used in the field, but the guidelines, scope, and practices of this tool are varied and ill-defined. I have witnessed in my students' papers and in peer reviewing for journals that there are a handful of assumptions and misconceptions that appear repeatedly, for example around intercoder reliability and frequency counting, that reduce the quality of analysis. This paper focuses on how to conduct QTAs that address social change: complex social problems faced by underserved populations, such as those dealing with poverty and inequality. By discussing the methods used in two of my own social change research projects, this paper offers a balanced method for both promoting rigor and understanding the limits and strengths of this method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper outlines my experience as an early career researcher engaging with my power and privilege embedded in my white, English-speaking identity while working with Mexican American male-identifying research participants. Utilizing critical race theory as a framework, this paper chronicles my reflections on un/hooking from whiteness within the context of scholarly inquiry. Specifically, I draw inspiration from a qualitative research project to anchor the discussion of privileged epistemologies and power structures embedded in the inquiry process and academia more broadly, and how race can intersect with how we negotiate our roles, methods, and subjectivities as qualitative scholars. More broadly, this paper explores notions of knowledge and agency in educational inquiry against the question of whose stories are told, how, for whom, and by whom. This paper contributes to the conversation and efforts toward disentangling from whiteness and the epistemologies around which research, higher education, and society are structured to instead magnify the voices and experiences of participants through more egalitarian inquiry practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bereavement and mourning are arguably one of the research interests of psychologists, psychoanalysts, and psychiatrists since Freud's publication of Mourning and Melancholia. This paper is a qualitative case study that sought to examine the mourning experience of the participant from childhood until his adolescence. For theoretical foundation, the four tasks of mourning primarily developed by James Worden was utilized for the proper direction of the research inquiry; namely: a.) accepting the reality of death; b.) experiencing the feeling of grief; c.) adjusting and creating new meanings in the post-loss world; and d.) reconfiguring the bond with the lost person. The paper finds that the participant's cognitive attitude, emotional experiences, and personal observations of the environment enable him to overcome actively (in an overlapping manner) the three tasks of mourning. However, the failure to find an enduring connection with his deceased parents is not a result of strong attachment but with the absence of personal belief about the meta-existence of God. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thematic analysis is a highly popular technique among qualitative researchers for analyzing qualitative data, which usually comprises thick descriptive data. However, the application and use of thematic analysis has also involved complications due to confusion regarding the final outcome's presentation as a conceptual model. This paper develops a systematic thematic analysis process for creating a conceptual model from qualitative research findings. It explores the adaptability of the proposed process across various research methodologies, including constructivist methodologies, positivist methodologies, grounded theory, and interpretive phenomenology, and justifies their application. The paper distinguishes between inductive and deductive coding approaches and emphasizes the merits of each. It suggests that the derived systematic thematic analysis model is valuable across multiple disciplines, particularly in grounded theory, ethnographic approaches, and narrative approaches, while also being adaptable to more descriptive, positivist-based methodologies. By providing a methodological roadmap, this study enhances the rigor and replicability of thematic analysis and offers a comprehensive strategy for theoretical conceptualization in qualitative research. The contribution of this paper is a systematic six-step thematic analysis process that leads to the development of a conceptual model; each step is described in detail and examples are given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objectives: People living with dementia have historically been excluded from qualitative research and their voices ignored due to the perception that a person with dementia is not able to express their opinions, preferences and feelings. Research institutions and organizations have contributed by adopting a paternalistic posture of overprotection. Furthermore, traditional research methods have proven to be exclusionary towards this group. The objective of this paper is to address the issue of inclusion of people with dementia in research and provide an evidence-based framework for dementia researchers based on the five principles of human rights: Participation, Accountability, Non-discrimination and equality, Empowerment and Legality (PANEL). Design: This paper adapts the PANEL principles to the research context, and uses evidence from the literature to create a framework for qualitative research in people with dementia. This new framework aims to guide dementia researchers in designing studies around the needs of people with dementia, to improve involvement and participation, facilitate research development and maximize research outcomes. Results: A checklist is presented with questions related to the five PANEL principles. These questions cover ethical, methodological and legal issues that researchers may need to consider while developing qualitative research for people with dementia. Conclusions: The proposed checklist offers a series of questions and considerations to facilitate the development of qualitative research in patients with dementia. It is inspired by current human rights work of recognized dementia researchers and organizations who have been directly involved in policy development. Future studies need to explore its utility in improving participation, facilitating ethics approvals and ensuring that outcomes are relevant to people with dementia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using data from in-depth interviews with women who have exited violent relationships, attorneys, and practitioners/policy specialists, this research note explores the continuation of control as women encounter “paper abuse.” The barrage of men’s frivolous lawsuits, false reports of child abuse, and other system-related manipulations exerts power, forces contact, and financially burdens their ex-partners. Although these acts are not new, the significance of this continuing abuse has not been fully explored by researchers. Yet attorneys and practitioners recognize the need for better documentation to strengthen protections for women still forced to contend with their former batterers. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Although the potential benefits of computer-based records have been identified in different areas of the healthcare environment, in many settings paper-based records and computer-based records are still used in parallel. In this article, emergency department (ED) staff perspectives about the use of paper- or computer-based records are presented. This was a qualitative study in which data were collected using in-depth semi-structured interviews with the ED staff. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and data were analysed using framework analysis. In total, 34 interviews were undertaken. The study identified a number of factors which might encourage or discourage the use of paper-based and computer-based records in the ED. Users also expressed their concerns and expectations. Although there is a tendency towards computerizing healthcare settings, user acceptance of technology should not be underestimated. To improve user acceptance, users' concerns should be investigated and addressed appropriately. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we report on a follow-up session that was organised to share findings with children about a participatory research project they had been involved in a few months earlier. This was motivated by the ethical concern that it is the children’s right to be informed about the results of the research. In the process of reflecting on the research project, however, the children diverted the researcher’s focus onto aspects of the research that mattered to them. Rather than discussing the results and the benefits of the research, the children were keen to discuss issues of representation, questioning the researcher about pseudonyms, transcribing and their role and presence in the dissertation. The follow-up session opened up a transformational space where both the child participants and the adult researchers gained new understandings about research processes and relationships. We argue that such retrospective reflection can be a beneficial tool to explore children’s post hoc interpretations about the research, while developing researcher reflexivity. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article describes using the Qualitative Pathway Project Mapping Tool (QL-PPMT) to guide the development of rigorous qualitative research proposals. The original PPMT was initially developed to assist nursing students in planning their quantitative research proposals and has been widely used by faculty to advise student research projects. In this paper, we have adapted the 26 sections of the PPMT to provide a comprehensive checklist and road map for qualitative proposal planning. Further, we describe each section of the QL-PPMT in detail with examples and suggest additional resources to guide the development of evidence-based qualitative research proposals for new investigators, students, and trainees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper develops and applies a methodology of qualitative inquiry that equips researchers to capture how social actors produce and contest accepted forms of knowledge at the margins of mainstream globalizing discourses in times of crisis. Standing at the intersection between conceptual and empirical research, our methodology builds on the common epistemological premises of 'narrative', as stories constructed and enacted in social life, and 'practice', as tasks and projects composed by 'doings' and 'sayings'. Overcoming the dualism between 'action' and 'discourse' in traditional social theory, this methodology integrates narrative theory and practice theory into a joint framework for fieldwork and interviews. The use of the narrative-practice methodology in ethnographic case studies – such as interpreters' experience of the COVID-19 pandemic in Qatar – allows researchers to gain analytical granularity on participants' storied practice and practiced stories of the crisis, to harness 'peripheral' knowledge and refashion public discourse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Researchers are increasingly interested in why people want to participate in qualitative interview studies, particularly what they hope to gain from participating. The present paper contributes to this research agenda by analysing the motivations of victims of interpersonal violence: a group that is considered ethically challenging to involve in research, given their history of being intruded upon. The analysis is based on 174 qualitative interviews from three separate studies: two on intimate partner violence and one on sexual assault. A key finding is that many victims welcome the opportunity to participate and often use the interviews for their own purposes. We identified three different 'participant orientations', or ways victims relate to the interview and the research, including 'telling for oneself', 'telling for others' and 'telling for the researcher'. We discuss how these orientations imply different ethical contracts between the participant and researcher and their links to recruitment methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Eating disorders are as common in Māori, the Indigenous people of Aotearoa-New Zealand, as they are in non-Māori; however, research has focused on the experiences of non-Māori. This paper will describe explanatory factors, treatment experiences and what helps with recovery for Māori. Methods: Kaupapa Māori research methodology informed the methods and analysis. Fifteen semi-structured interviews comprised thirteen Māori participants with eating disorders (anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder) and two whānau (support network) members. A thematic analysis was undertaken by a first cycle of coding that used deductive structural coding to identify data describing participants' perceived causes of eating disorders, their experience of treatment and recovery. A second cycle of coding used inductive analysis with descriptive and pattern coding. Results: Three overarching themes were antecedents (cumulative exposure), treatment (a system of complexities) and recovery (resource empowerment). Antecedents comprised cumulative exposure to body and sporting ideals and adversity as causal factors of eating disorders. In the treatment theme, a system of complexities critiqued rural settings for generalised mental health services, allocation of Māori cultural support, the economic burden of treatment, culturally incongruent treatment (methods, values) and a weight-focused discharge criterion. Recovery (resource empowerment) found appropriate health information, self-determination and connection to Māori culture and whānau aspirations helped with recovery. Conclusion: The diversity of birdcalls reminds us of the individuality of eating disorders. Health practitioners are reminded that just as the Tūī, Kākā and Kererū possess their own unique birdcalls, so do Māori with eating disorders and their whānau have their own experiences, needs and required treatment responses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Shared decision-making is a key element of person-centred care and promoted as the favoured model in preference-sensitive decision-making. Limitations to implementation have been observed, and barriers and limitations, both generally and in the palliative setting, have been highlighted. More knowledge about the process of shared decision-making in palliative cancer care would assist in addressing these limitations. Aim: To identify and synthesise qualitative data on how people with cancer, informal carers and healthcare professionals experience and perceive shared decision-making in palliative cancer care. Design: A systematic review and metasynthesis of qualitative studies. We analysed data using inductive thematic analysis. Data sources: We searched five electronic databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, CINAHL and Scopus) from inception until June 2023, supplemented by backward searches. Results: We identified and included 23 studies, reported in 26 papers. Our analysis produced four analytical themes; (1) Overwhelming situation of 'no choice', (2) Processes vary depending on the timings and nature of the decisions involved, (3) Patient-physician dyad is central to decision-making, with surrounding support and (4) Level of involvement depends on interactions between individuals and systems. Conclusion: Shared decision-making in palliative cancer care is a complex process of many decisions in a challenging, multifaceted and evolving situation where equipoise and choice are limited. Implications for practice: Implementing shared decision-making in clinical practice requires (1) clarifying conceptual confusion, (2) including members of the interprofessional team in the shared decision-making process and (3) adapting the approach to the ambiguous, existential situations which arise in palliative cancer care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How do we explore the meaning and meaningfulness of a singular event that lives on with us as a lasting impression? What are the initial beginnings and final endings of such living moments? How do we make sense of the significance of events that are so meaningful that they have become a lasting impression. This paper focuses on the phenomenology of such lasting impressions, by drawing on an exemplary anecdote about parental bereavement in newborn intensive care. The phenomenological intent is to determine the depth and magnitude of moments that as healthcare providers we may all too easily miss. As well, the methodological intent is to show how as researchers we can engage in a qualitative manner with empirically obtained experiential material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although qualitative research is often equated with inductive analysis, researchers may also use deductive qualitative approaches for certain types of research questions and purposes. Deductive qualitative research allows researchers to use existing theory to examine meanings, processes, and narratives of interpersonal and intrapersonal phenomena. Deductive qualitative analysis (DQA; Gilgun, 2005, 2019) is one form of deductive qualitative research that is suited to theory application, testing, and refinement. Within DQA, researchers combine deductive and inductive analysis to examine supporting, contradicting, refining, and expanding evidence for the theory or conceptual model being examined, resulting in a theory that better fits the present sample and accounts for increased diversity in the phenomenon being studied. This paper acts as a primer on DQA and presents two worked examples of DQA studies. Our discussion focuses on the five primary components of DQA: selecting a research question and guiding theory, operationalizing theory, collecting a purposive sample, coding and analyzing data, and theorizing. We highlight different ways of operationalizing theory as sensitizing constructs or as working hypotheses and discuss common pitfalls in theory operationalization. We divide the coding and analyzing process into two sections for parsimony: early analysis, focused on familiarity with the data, code generation, and identification of negative cases, and middle analysis, focused on developing a thorough understanding of evidence related to the guiding theory and negative cases that depart from the guiding theory. Theorizing occurs throughout as researchers consider ways in which the theory being examined is supported, refuted, refined, or expanded. We also discuss strengths and limitations of DQA and potential difficulties researchers may experience when utilizing this methodology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Covid-19 pandemic added to collective concerns, making health risks salient especially for the older population. The health emergency exacerbated an already widespread negative representation of aging, and phenomena such as ageism. With the present qualitative inquiry, 21 episodic interviews were collected with the aim of understanding the experience of older adults in residential care facilities, exploring their ideas of aging and the viewpoints that helped them to respond to the pandemic successfully. A thematic analysis was conducted using NudIst software. The results show that participants described multiple personal and relational resources they used to cope with the pandemic, and they were able to express counter-narratives to the ideas of aging as coinciding with decline, and of lockdown as a source of distress alone. The paper concludes with reflections on the relevance of research capable of challenging unhelpful dominant discourses and averting the risk of them turning into negative prophecies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]