Directed qualitative content analysis: The description and elaboration of its underpinning methods and data analysis process

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Fatemeh Heshmati Nabavi, Abdolghader Assarroudi, Mohammad Reza Armat, Abbas Ebadi and Mojtaba Vaismoradi

Sabzevar University of Medical Sciences, Iran
Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Iran
North Khorasan University of Medical Sciences, Iran
Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Iran
Nord University, Norway

: J Nurs Patient Care

Abstract

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The qualitative content analysis has consisted of conventional, directed and summative approaches for data analysis. They are used for the provision of descriptive knowledge and understandings of the phenomenon under study. However, the method underpinning directed qualitative content analysis is insufficiently delineated in international literature. Different international databases were used to retrieve articles related to directed qualitative content analysis. A review of the literature led to the integration and elaboration of a stepwise method of data analysis for directed qualitative content analysis. The proposed sixteen-step method of data analysis in this paper is a detailed description of analytical steps taken in the directed qualitative content analysis that covers the current gap of knowledge in the international literature regarding the practical process of data analysis. The directed qualitative content analysis method proposed in this paper is a reliable, transparent and comprehensive method for qualitative researchers. It can increase the rigor of data analysis, make the comparison of the findings of different studies possible and yield practical results.

Biography

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Fatemeh Heshmati Nabavi is an assistant professor in nursing, Department of Nursing Management, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran. Her main areas of research interest are ‘Medical education’, ‘Nursing management’ and ‘Qualitative study’.

E-mail: HeshmatiNF@mums.ac.ir