Fatemeh Heshmati Nabavi
assistant professor in nursing, Department of Nursing Management, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran
Title: Directed qualitative content analysis: The description and elaboration of its underpinning methods and data analysis process
Biography
Biography: Fatemeh Heshmati Nabavi
Abstract
Qualitative content analysis is consisted of conventional, directed and summative approaches for data analysis. They are used for the provision of descriptive knowledge and understandings of the phenomenon under study. However, the method underpinning directed qualitative content analysis is insufficiently delineated in international literature. Different international databases were used to retrieve articles related to directed qualitative content analysis. A review of literature led to the integration and elaboration of a stepwise method of data analysis for directed qualitative content analysis. The proposed sixteen-step method of data analysis in this paper is a detailed description of analytical steps taken in directed qualitative content analysis that covers the current gap of knowledge in international literature regarding the practical process of data analysis. The directed qualitative content analysis method proposed in this paper is a reliable, transparent and comprehensive method for qualitative researchers. It can increase the rigor of data analysis, make the comparison of the findings of different studies possible and yield practical results.