View/Open - ARAN - National University of Ireland, Galway

4.5 The Role of Reflection
136
Chapter 4 Research Method
Throughout the research study a reflective journal was maintained. The aim of this
journal was to help the researcher to think about how previous clinical experiences
might affect or influence the research. The journal also enabled reflection on how
issues or events observed/learned in the research site might affect the researcher, e.g.
seeing care provided differently to the way it was thought it should be done.
The next section will give an overview of the data collection and analysis
descriptions to follow.
4.6 Phase One: Data Collection and Analysis
Phase one was a case study design and thus required multiple methods of data
collection. These methods will be described individually in the following sections.
The rationale for using multiple data collection methods was for completeness and to
sufficiently inform the case study and contribute to the holistic nature of case study
research, e.g. how was resident autonomy written about? How did people describe it
or talk about it? How was it observed in practice? Firstly, the documentary data
collection method and its analysis will be described. Secondly, the observation
method will be described. Thirdly, the interview method will be described and then
the approach to the analysis of these two methods will be explained. Finally, the staff
survey will be described and its analysis will also be explained. The steps taken to
ensure rigour in all of these data collection methods will also be discussed
throughout.
4.7 Documentary Data Collection and Analysis
This section describes how documentary data were collected. This involved
collecting data from relevant documentary sources on the research unit. These
sources included nursing notes, staff rosters and the philosophy of care displayed on
the research unit’s wall.
4.7.1 Nursing Notes
For the purpose of this study, each resident’s set of documentation was defined as
the nursing assessment, care plan and daily nursing notes. A total of 38 sets of