Doyle Louise, McCabe Catherine, Keogh Brian, Brady Annemarie, McCann Margaret
Associate Professor in Mental Health Nursing, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland.
Associate Professor in General Nursing, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland.
J Res Nurs. 2020 Aug;25(5):443-455. doi: 10.1177/1744987119880234. Epub 2019 Dec 18.
Qualitative descriptive designs are common in nursing and healthcare research due to their inherent simplicity, flexibility and utility in diverse healthcare contexts. However, the application of descriptive research is sometimes critiqued in terms of scientific rigor. Inconsistency in decision making within the research process coupled with a lack of transparency has created issues of credibility for this type of approach. It can be difficult to clearly differentiate what constitutes a descriptive research design from the range of other methodologies at the disposal of qualitative researchers.
This paper provides an overview of qualitative descriptive research, orientates to the underlying philosophical perspectives and key characteristics that define this approach and identifies the implications for healthcare practice and policy.
Using real-world examples from healthcare research, the paper provides insight to the practical application of descriptive research at all stages of the design process and identifies the critical elements that should be explicit when applying this approach.
By adding to the existing knowledge base, this paper enhances the information available to researchers who wish to use the qualitative descriptive approach, influencing the standard of how this approach is employed in healthcare research.
定性描述性设计在护理和医疗保健研究中很常见，因为其本身具有简单性、灵活性以及在不同医疗保健环境中的实用性。然而，描述性研究的应用有时会在科学严谨性方面受到批评。研究过程中决策的不一致以及缺乏透明度给这种方法带来了可信度问题。定性研究人员可采用多种其他方法，因此很难明确区分什么构成描述性研究设计。
本文概述定性描述性研究，介绍定义该方法的潜在哲学观点和关键特征，并确定其对医疗保健实践和政策的影响。
本文通过医疗保健研究中的实际例子，深入了解描述性研究在设计过程各个阶段的实际应用，并确定应用该方法时应明确的关键要素。
本文通过增加现有知识库，增强了希望使用定性描述性方法的研究人员可获取的信息，影响了该方法在医疗保健研究中的应用标准。
