This chapter presented how this research was conducted. This chapter described research approach and showed research framework based on the research purposes. The research procedure for this study was presented and followed by the research design, which included sampling strategy, the methods adopted for data collection, data analysis procedure. Finally, the techniques for ensuring research quality were explained.
Research Approach
This study adopted qualitative research approach which aimed to understand people’s interpretations and perceptions, trying to explore ICU nurses’ experience of using emotion management strategies. Qualitative research seeks to produce in-depth, comprehensive information and obtain a wide understanding of the entire situation (Key, 1997), so this study conducted in-depth interview in which the ICU nurses share their experience of emotional incidents at work and their social learning process for emotion management strategies. On the basis of research questions, a series of interview questions were designed to guide interviewees to recall and share their experience.
Compared to quantitative research, the goal of conducting qualitative research is to explore the depth of information rather than collect information from large numbers. While quantitative study is often adopted to verify a relationship or hypothesis that researchers already have in mind (Neuman, 2006), qualitative method is often inductive, which means hypotheses or theories are generated after the information is gathered (Houssemand &
Meyers, 2013). Thus, this study adopted qualitative research approach to seek the answers not only for ‘what’ but also ‘how’.
Research Framework
The development of this study’s research framework was based on research purposes and research questions presented in Chapter I. This study aimed to identify emotion management strategies used by ICU nurses in emotional incidents and to explore the incident outcome and the influence on individual. As illustrated in the framework, how ICU nurses dealt with emotional incidents would affect their social learning process, and what they learned from previous social learning process would also influence how they dealt with later emotional incidents. Therefore, another purpose of this study was to understand ICU nurses’
learning process for emotion management through social learning perspective.
Figure 3.1. Research framework Emotional
Incidents
Situation selection
Situation modification
Attentional deployment
Cognitive change
Response modulation
Emotion Management Strategies
Learn from personal interaction (PI)
Learn from interaction observations (IO)
Learn from task observations (TO) Social Learning
Incident Outcome
Influence on Individual
To identify ICU nurses’ emotion management strategies in emotional incidents, this study adopted the conceptual framework of emotion regulation proposed by Gross (2002).
The three modes of social learning, which were proposed by Singh et al. (2012), were also adopted to understand how ICU nurses learned to use emotion management strategies.
Through these three modes, the relationship between observer and observed role model was also identified. Both of these two theories were already elaborated in Chapter II. This research framework was a basic structure for analyzing data after data collection.
Research Procedure
As shown in Figure 3.2, the research procedure presented the steps of developing and conducting this study.
1. Identify Research Topic
The research topic was identified after consulting with advisor and discussing with an ICU nurse to make sure that it was feasible to conduct this study.
2. Review Literature
After deciding the topic, literatures about emotion management and social learning and nursing-related information were explored to understand the research background and identify research gaps and significance.
3. Determine Research Method
Because of the gap that pointed out few research studied have studied emotion management in multi-dimensional way, this study adopted qualitative research to gain richer and deeper data.
4. Clarify Research Purpose and Questions
Based on the research background, this study developed two research purposes. After consulting with the advisor, research questions were set according to research purposes.
5. Develop Research Framework
Research framework was developed based on three modes of social learning and five emotion regulation strategies which were presented in literature review. The emotional incident, incident outcome, and influence on individual, which made the data of this study rich, were also put in the research framework.
6. Design Interview Questions
In order to respond to research questions, interview questions were developed from research questions.
7. Conduct Expert Review and Pilot Test
The interview questions were checked by two experts to ensure the reliability of questions. Two pilot tests were also conducted to make sure the questions were easy to be understood. The researcher modified the interview questions according to the suggestions of experts and the result of pilot tests.
8. Conduct Interviews
Because this study adopted snowball sampling, the researcher interviewed ICU nurses through the network of their relationships. The interview questions were sent to interviewees in advance so that they can recall the memory and prepare for the interview.
9. Analyze Data
After collecting all the interview data and relevant document, the researcher transcribed the interview verbatim and systematically categorized them based on research questions to discover the findings.
10. Present Research Findings
After analyzing the data, research findings were presented to connect with literature review to respond to research questions. The implications and suggestions were provided for individuals and organizations involving emotion work.
Figure 3.2. Research procedure
Identify Research Topic
Review Literature
Determine Research Method
Clarify Reserach Purpose and Questions
Develop Research Framework
Desgin Interview Questions
Conduct Expert Review and Pilot Test
Conduct Interviews
Analyze Data
Present Research Findings
Research Participants and Sampling Criteria
This study focused on ICU nurses. Because this study involved the interpersonal interactions among nurses, patients, patients’ relatives, colleagues, and doctors, if the participants chosen to be representative sample only came from the same hospital, the reliability of research result would be lower. Besides, different hospitals had different work atmosphere and environment, so the participants came from ICU in different hospitals could help this study discover more various cases.
This study adopted snowball sampling, which “begins with one or a few people or cases and spreads out based on links to the initial cases” (Neuman, 2010, p.269), so the researcher interviewed ICU nurses through the network of their relationships. The total number of participants was 20 ICU nurses in this study, and because ICU was considered a complicated work environment, the participants in this study should have at least one year work experience in ICU, meaning they had at least one-year learning experience to share with the researcher. For senior ICU nurses, even if they had worked for many years, there were often unexpected incidents that they may not encounter before, so learning was an ongoing process for them. In this study, the participants’ age range was 21~45 years old, and they had one to more than five years of work experience. To ensure the confidentiality of hospitals and the privacy of participants, the participants’ names were coded using pseudonym (Table 3.1.).
Table 3.1.
The Description of Interview Participants
Interviewee Age Range Location of Hospital Year of Experience
Anita 26-30 Middle of Taiwan Above 5
This study adopted qualitative research approach based on in-depth interview and document review. Due to the purposes of study, which aimed to identify ICU nurses’ emotion management strategies, the interview focused on participants’ sharing of emotion management experience. This study also tried to understand ICU nurses’ learning process for emotion management, so the relevant document that the participants provided was reviewed to enrich the research results.
In-depth Interview
This study adopted in-depth interview to focus on the ICU nurses’ experience of using emotion management strategies and the learning process for the strategies. In-depth interview was conducted to explore the participants’ perspectives on a particular “idea, program, or situation” (Boyce & Neale, 2006, p.3). Qualitative interviews can be generally categorized into three types: unstructured, semi-structured, and structured interviews (DiCicco-Bloom &
Crabtree, 2006). This study adopted semi-structured in-depth interviews, which were considered the most appropriate technique when the researcher asked open-ended questions that explored depth of information from the participants. The flexibility permitted responses to be fully probed and allowed the researcher to be responsive (Guion, Diehl, & McDonald, 2011).
This approach fitted this study because the content of the interview was about experience-sharing, in which the researcher asked an initial question and expected the participant to talk freely when answering the question. The follow-up questions also emerged from the dialogue for the researcher to probe more information. The length of each interview was about 60 minutes. The interviews were recorded with digital voice recorder and the researcher also took notes during the interviews. The interview questions were designed based on research questions. Because the participants’ native language was Mandarin, the interview questions were designed in Chinese. The questions were also translated into English later and checked by two peers majoring in human resource development and possessing good English ability. To ensure the participants could understand interview questions responding to research questions, interview questions were reviewed by two experts to ensure the reliability and validity. The questions were sent to two experts, one was physician assistant, who used to be an ICU nurse, and the other was a senior nurse who used to work in ICU. The experts suggested that the interview time should control within an hour because ICU nurses were busy and did not have many vacation, they may not want the
interview to occupy too much of their break time. The experts also gave some suggestions on the wording of interview questions to ensure the participants could understand what the researcher wanted to ask. The researcher revised some wording according to the experts’
suggestions. For example, the word “actions” were revised into “emotional responses.” After the revision of interview questions, the researcher conducted two pilot interviews to ensure the interviewees could catch the intended meaning of the questions.
Document Review
Document review provided a valuable source of data for historical and discourses analysis. The document can include personal documentation such as diaries, letters, and films (Krahn & Putnam, 2008). Due to the convenience of internet, some people tended to keep a diary and shared their status on community websites such as facebook. Through social interaction activities, interpersonal influence could also be delivered. One of the research purposes of this study was to understand ICU nurses’ learning process of emotion management through social learning perspective. Thus, this study explored ICU nurses’ social learning with the assistance of diaries provided by the participants.
Data Analysis
The researcher adopted a qualitative approach in this study to conduct in-depth interview and document review. The data analysis of this study was based on Taylor-Powell and Renner’s (2003) analysis process. After data collection, six steps of data analysis process were implemented (Figure 3.3.).
Transcribe each interview verbatim
Get familiar with the data
Review the purposes and research questions of this study
Conduct open coding
Conduct axial coding
Present and explain findings
Figure 3.3. Data analysis procedure. Adapted from “Analyzing qualitative data,” by E.
Taylor-Powell & M. Renner, 2003, Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Extension.
Data analysis was an on-going process in qualitative research, including data collection and transcribing interview content. During interview process, the general ideas emerged from the conversation and the researcher transcribed each interview verbatim after the interviews.
After the transcription, the researcher read the data and listened to the recordings several times in order to understand the data. To get familiar with the data helped the researcher identify answers and essential information for the research purposes and research questions.
Then, the open coding and axial coding were implemented. Open coding means locating the themes and assigning initial codes to condense the data into categories (Neuman, 2006). Axial coding is the second stage of coding and the primary task is to organize the initial coded themes, link them,
and identify the key analytic categories (Neuman, 2006). At last, the themes were finalized into findings in response to research questions.
In Table 3.2., the example of the coding process was presented. After the interview was transcribed verbatim, the researcher examined the transcripts carefully to identify useful data and gave each discrete idea “a name or label that stands for or represents a phenomenon”
(Mertens, 2005, p. 424). In the example of Table 3.2., the first code stood for the interviewee, and the second code represented the series number of emotional incident with nurses. The researcher examined useful information from the original content for responding to the first research question, so the researcher gave the third code which denoted the strategy that the interviewee
used in the emotional situation.
Table 3.2.
The Example of Coding Process
After all relevant ideas were coded, the researcher started to group the codes into categories, which was an important step because “this is how you bring the complexity of the context back into the picture” (p. 424). Then the relationship between categories was connected to identify the themes, and finally the themes were placed into different dimensions based on research quesitons. In order to response to three research questions of this study, four dimensions were identfied, which were emotion management strategies, incident outcome, influence on individual, and social learning for EM. Table 3.3. presented the example of the
Interviewee Original Data Coding
Anita One time when I transferred the patient to general unit, I was spited by their head nurse…I felt helpless at that moment. I said
‘sorry, I will ask my senior nurse to help me with this injection.’
A_NI7_S2.1.1
I will ask my senior nurse to help me with this injection.
Table 3.3.
The Example of the Categorizing Process
Code Category Theme Dimension
S4.1.1
I told myself that at least he died without lots of pain.
Think from another perspective
Cognitive Change Emotion Management Strategies S4.1.2
Sometimes I would think maybe they really care about that.
S4.1.3
We were all doing good things for the patient, not for ourselves.
S4.2.1
I would think what they needed and what I could do for them.
Put oneself in other’s shoes S4.2.2
I thought from relative’s perspective to understand her decision
Research Quality
The measures for achieving trustworthiness of research procedures and findings should be evaluated in every research. For evaluating qualitative findings and enhancing research’s trustworthiness, Guba and Lincoln (1985) proposed four criteria that can be incorporated into a research design.
Credibility
The evaluation criterion of credibility was to assess research findings from participants’
or members’ perspective. In order to enhance to credibility of the study, the researcher included member checks into the research findings. Guba and Lincoln (1985) described member checks as “the most crucial technique for establishing credibility” (p.314). Mertens (2005) indicated that member checks can be conducted with formal and informal way.
Because the nurses may be too busy to check the transcription after the researcher transcribed the interview verbatim, the researcher summarized the interview content and checked the notes again with the interviewees at the end of interview to ask if anything was misunderstood or omitted. Triangulation was also adopted to enhance the credibility of research results. In this study, in-depth interview and document review were both conducted to collect research data to ensure the consistency of the data.
Transferability
Transferability refers to the degree that research findings can be transferred to other context. In order to enhance transferability, the researcher provided details of the research methods and context that underlied the study. This study focused on ICU nurses who did emotion work with high work stress, which had already detailed in the research background and literature review. Thus, the study could provide the research results for other emotional labor workers in other industries.
Dependability
Dependability is similar to the stability and reliability, which means the consistency of the findings under similar condition. However, because the findings of qualitative research is less able to be duplicated, it is important for the researcher to explain the changing contexts that are fundamental to qualitative research. To enhance the consistency of the research result, in data collection, the interview questions were sent to the interviewees in advance for them to prepare. During the in-depth interview, the interview process was recorded with digital voice recorder to ensure the quality of interview.
Confirmability
Confirmability refers to objectivity, which means the extent to which the researcher notices individual subjectivity. In order to reduce bias, there was a nurse who used to work in ICU attending most interviews and observing the interview process. The consultation with the advisor also helped enhance the comfirmability of the study.