1,721,364 research outputs found
Moving from collision to integration: reflecting on the experience of mixed methods
No full textCombining research approaches, commonly referred to as ‘mixed methods’, has the potential to lead to greater insights than would be gained by one approach alone. The discussion in this paper draws on the personal experience of conducting interrelated studies that adopted different methods, underpinned by different methodological positions. In the conduct of the research, several roles were occupied by members of the research team and, together with the mixed methods, gave rise to a number of issues in the conduct and implementation of research. The particular tensions identified are likely to be transferable to other contexts. Key to working with mixed methods is the need for researchers to acknowledge the alternative conceptions of knowledge and reflect on their position in relation to the range of possibilities. It is suggested that continued conflation of particular concepts, i.e. method and paradigm, acts as a barrier to meaningful interdisciplinary working and true integration of insights gained from combined approaches
Community mental health nurses' perspectives on the treatment of people with common mental health problems
No full textThe study was in two parts. In Part 1 the thematic content analysis of the nurses’ individual accounts of their trial experience revealed how the CMHNs’ aimed to be an agent of change in the nurse-patient encounters and how the trial setting contrasted with everyday practice. Following this, detailed micro-analysis of the narratives of nurse-patient encounters found that the nurses’ goal to be an agent of change was not always borne out when the construction of their accounts was examined. In Part 2 the thematic content analysis of group discussions about CMHN role illuminated the tensions in CMHNs’ everyday practice and their perceived role with people with CMHPs outside of the experimental setting. Overall, the treatment of people with CMHPs was exceptional in that the nurses interpreted their trial experience in the way it contrasted with their everyday practice. Further, in line with the results of the randomised controlled trial, CMHNs did not think that people with CMHPs should be treated by specialist nurses within community mental health services. The nurses suggested a range of methods in which individual, community and primary care resources could be augmented to support people with the aim of preventing referral to specialist services.The integration of the key findings from both parts of the study demonstrated how the nurses used and valued a range of types and sources of knowledge, both in their practice and when forming their views about CMHPs and service organisation. These knowledge sources were not those valued in contemporary healthcare. The dominant evidence-based practice movement champions research evidence of effectiveness above other forms of knowledge. Broadening the understanding of evidence and narrowing the claims of evidence-based practice is suggested to permit all forms of knowledge to be valued in healthcare decision-makin
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Community mental health nurses' views of their role in the treatment of people with common mental disorders
No full textBackground:
Tension is apparent between primary and secondary care services with regard to the treatment of people with common mental disorders (CMDs). Studies have consistently shown that general practitioners (GPs) would like direct access to community mental health nurses (CMHNs) for CMDs, despite a lack of evidence of effectiveness for this treatment approach. Policy initiatives direct community mental health nurses to concentrate their efforts on people with severe mental illness (SMI). This is an important issue as GPs take on practice-based commissioning. The views of CMHNs themselves are under-reported.Aim:
To explore community mental health nurses' views concerning the nature of common mental disorders and their role in treatment.Design:
Qualitative case study.Setting:
Four NHS trusts providing mental health services in southern England.Methods:
Six group discussions were undertaken with 37 CMHNs. Data were analysed using thematic content analysis.Results:
Unlike GPs, CMHNs did not consider treating people with CMDs to be part of their role. While they had the skills for this work, they felt it would distract from their primary purpose of caring for people with SMI. Having to deal with 'inappropriate' referrals from GPs could be frustrating for nurses. However, they perceived a gap in provision for people with CMDs, and a need to facilitate speedy referral to secondary care for those people who did not respond to treatment in primary care.Conclusion:
Notwithstanding the limitations of the methods of this study, the findings suggest that CMHNs are likely to resist any attempts to commission them to provide direct care for people with CMDs in primary care. Developing alternative partnership arrangements between secondary and primary care services may be more appropriate
Shifting the focus: sequential methods of analysis with qualitative data
Full text linkThe purpose of this article is to illustrate both the processes of data analysis and the methodological development involved in adopting the sequential use of two data analysis methods applied to the same data set. Understanding of the phenomena of interest was sought through examining both the content and the form of nurses' accounts of practice experiences. Initially, a method of thematic content analysis was applied to understand what the nurses said about their experiences. The core theme of nurses' change agency derived from this analysis was examined further through a method of narrative analysis. In the second analysis, the focus was shifted to how the nurses accounted for their experiences. The innovative use of iterative, sequential methods of analysis revealed greater complexity and depth of understanding of the phenomena than would have been achieved with one method alone
Needs assessment and discharge: a Scottish perspective
No full textDischarge from hospital remains a difficult area for health services and it is unclear how much impact policy directives have had on discharge outcomes. The recent National Service Framework for mental health has highlighted discharge as a key area with Standard Five indicating minimum requirements at discharge from hospital. In order to aid this process this paper discusses the findings of a needs assessment of patients following discharge from psychiatric inpatient care in Scotland. The needs and unmet needs as assessed by both patients and mental health community staff on the Camberwell Assessment of Need (CAN) are presented. The CAN seeks to identify needs in a range of domains addressing basic, health, social, functioning and service issues. The sample comprised 173 patients recently discharged from acute psychiatric units in eight health board areas of Scotland and 98 community staff identified as providing key support to 98 of the patient sample. The findings indicate that the needs of patients discharged from hospital are complex and that the targeting of mental health services according to diagnostic criteria may not be the best way of ensuring support reaches those in most need. The range of needs identified suggests that fully integrated multidisciplinary care is essential to meet needs at discharge. The period initially after hospital discharge is one of vulnerability and incorporating a needs assessment into the discharge planning could aid the care planning process required by the Framework
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
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