Is the method used to collect data compatible with the purpose of the research?
Statement of the Phenomenon of Interest
a. What is the phenomenon of interest and is it clearly stated for the reader?
b. What is the justification for using a qualitative method?
c. What are the philosophic underpinnings of the research method?
Purpose
a. What is the purpose of the study?
b. What is the projected significance of the work to nursing?
Methodology
a. Is the method used to collect data compatible with the purpose of the research?
b. Is the method adequate to address the phenomenon of interest?
c. If a particular approach is used to guide the inquiry, does the researcher complete the study according to the processes described?
Sampling
a. What type of sampling is used? Is it appropriate given the particular method?
b. Are the informants who were chosen appropriate to inform the research?
Data Collection
a. Is data collection focused on human experience?
b. Does the researcher describe data collection strategies (i.e., interview, observation, field notes)
c. Is the protection of human participants addressed?
d. Is saturation of the data described?
e. What are the procedures for collecting data?
Data Analysis
a. What strategies are used to analyze data?
b. Has the researcher remained true to the data?
c. Does the reader follow the steps described for data analysis?
d. Does the researcher address the credibility, auditability, and fittingness of the data?
Findings
a. Are the findings presented within a context?
b. Is the reader able to apprehend the essence of the experience from the report of the findings?
c. Are the researcher’s conceptualizations true to the data?
d. Does the researcher place the report in the context of what is already known about the phenomenon? Was the existing literature on the topic related to the findings?
Conclusions, Implications, and Recommendations
a. Do the conclusions, implications, and recommendations give the reader a context in which to use the findings?
b. How do the conclusions reflect the study findings?
c. What are the recommendations for future study? Do they reflect the findings?
d. How has the researcher made specific the significance of the study to nursing theory, research, or practice?
Criterion
Introduction-5
