Skip to main content

Principles of doing research

  • Chapter
Nursing Research

Abstract

Once the proposal is approved, and institutional approvals and funding have been obtained, the actual research can start. Beginning researchers (and even the more experienced embarking on a new project) report that starting is a very stressful time, and that knocking on the door of the first participant was the most difficult thing they had ever done. This difficulty may arise from the lack of structure in the qualitative research process, which leaves the researcher feeling that a lot could possibly go wrong (for example, that a prospective participant will refuse to enter the study). On the other hand, if participant observation is a part of the design, there is the awkwardness of not knowing ‘what to do’ or how to fit into the research setting.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Bowen, E.S. (1964) Return to Laughter, Doubleday, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Douglas, J.D. (1976) Investigative Social Research: Individual and Team Research, Sage Publications, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Field, P.A. (1983) An ethnography: four public health nurses’ perspectives of nursing. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 8, 3–12.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Germain, C. (1979) The Cancer Unit: An Ethnography, Nursing Resources, Wakefield, MA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Golde, P. (ed.) (1970) Women in the Field: Anthropological Experiences, Aldine, Chicago.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gregory, J.R. (1984) The myth of the male ethnographer and the woman’s world. Journal of the American Anthropological Association, 86(2), 316–27.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hupcey, J. and Morse, J.M. (in press) Family and social support: application to the critically ill patient, Journal of Family Nursing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaufman, K.S. (1994) The insider-outsider dilemma: field experience of a White researcher ‘getting in’ a poor Black community. Nursing Research, 43(3), 179–83.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kratz, C. (1975) Participant observation in dyadic and triadic situations. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 12(3), 169–74.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lipson, J. (1991) The use of self in ethnographic research, in Qualitative Nursing Research: A Contemporary Dialogue, rev. edn, (ed. J.M. Morse), Sage, Newbury Park, CA, pp. 73–89.

    Google Scholar 

  • Miles, MB. and Huberman, A.M. (1994) Qualitative Data Analysis: An Expanded Sourcebook, 2nd edn, Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morse, J.M. (1986) Qualitative research: issues in sampling, in Nursing Research Methodology, (ed. P.L. Chinn), Aspen, Rockville, MD, pp. 181–93.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morse, J.M. (1989/1991) Strategies for sampling, in Qualitative Nursing Research: A Contemporary Dialogue, rev. edn, (ed. J.M. Morse), Sage, Newbury Park, CA, pp. 127–45.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morse, J.M. (1991/92) The structure and function of gift-giving in the patient-nurse relationship, in Qualitative Health Research, (ed. J.M. Morse), Sage, Menlo Park, CA, pp. 236–56.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morse, J.M. (1992) Comfort: the refocusing of nursing care. Clinical Nursing Research, 1, 91–113.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Watson, L., Irwin, J. and Michalske, S. (1991) Researcher as friend: methods of the interviewer in a longitudinal study. Qualitative Health Research, 1, 497–514.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wax, R.H. (1971) Doing Fieldwork: Warnings and Advice, University of Chicago Press, Chicago.

    Google Scholar 

Further Reading

  • Aquilar, J.L. (1981) Insider research: an ethnography of debate, in Anthropologists at Home in North America: Methods and Issues in the Study of One’s Own Society, (ed. D.A. Messerschmidt), Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 15–28.

    Google Scholar 

  • Denzin, N.K. and Lincoln, Y.S. (1994) Introduction: entering the field of qualitative research, in Handbook of Qualitative Research (eds N.K. Denzin and Y.S. Lincoln), Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA, pp. 1–17.

    Google Scholar 

  • Field, P.A. (1991) Doing fieldwork in your own culture, in Qualitative Nursing Research: A Contemporary Dialogue, rev. edn, (ed. J.M. Morse), Sage, Newbury Park, CA, pp. 91–104.

    Google Scholar 

  • Freilich, M. (ed.) (1977) Marginal Natives at Work, Schenkman, Cambridge, MA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hinds, P.H., Chaves, D.E. and Cypess, S.M. (1992) Context as a source of meaning and understanding, in Qualitative Health Research, (ed. J.M. Morse), Sage, Menlo Park, CA, pp. 3142–256.

    Google Scholar 

  • Punch, M. (1986) The Politics and Ethics of Fieldwork, Sage, Beverly Hills, CA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reason, P. (ed.) (1988) Human Inquiry in Action, Sage, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Maanen, J. (1988) Tales of the Field, University of Chicago Press, Chicago.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 1996 Janice M. Morse and Peggy Anne Field

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Morse, J.M., Field, P.A. (1996). Principles of doing research. In: Nursing Research. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-4471-9_4

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-4471-9_4

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-0-412-60510-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4899-4471-9

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics