Improving Quality of Life for Older People in Long-Stay Care ...

from stakeholders who attended the focus groups. A total of 12 domains werepresented to residents: ethos of care; choice and control; privacy; feeling caredfor/feeling secure; sense of self; meaningful activity; companionship; relationships;continuity with life/community; independence; spirituality and a general category.All interviews addressed the 12 domains but the schedule was used flexibly inorder to allow a conversational interview style. The schedule included promptswhich were used only if resident participants required further guidance. Two pilotinterviews were undertaken in order to test the interview schedules. Followinganalysis of the pilot data, some minor modifications to the schedules were made.A similar schedule was prepared for staff (Appendix Four) and relatives (AppendixFive). In the staff interview schedule specific questions on resident quality of lifeand staff educational needs were added.4.5.7 Sampling StrategyA purposive sampling strategy was employed which is typical of qualitativeresearch. Purposive sampling entails making a ‘calculated decision to sample aspecific locale according to a preconceived but reasonable initial set of dimensions’(Cutcliffe, 2000). In this study the following sampling decisions were taken:91to sample across the five care facility types, including rural and urban settingsto ensure the views of both men and women were representedto include residents who were new to the facility (there for less thanthree months) and those who had resided in the facility for longer periodsto include residents who had significant communication difficultiesto include staff with different roles, for example cooks, physiotherapists,nurses and activity therapists; and at different levels, for example directorsof nursing, registered nurses and care assistants.There are no firm criteria or rules regarding sampling size in qualitative research.A small sample size permitting full, in-depth study of the chosen topic is typicalof qualitative studies (Tuckett, 2004; Miles and Huberman, 1994; Patton, 1990).Factors such as the quality of information, type of interview and available timemay determine what is possible (Polit and Beck, 2004). The goal in this study wasto include the perspectives of as many residents, staff and relatives as possible.A pragmatic decision was taken, therefore, to interview as many residents aspossible within the available time.