A series of research limitations of this study should be mentioned. Qualitative
research is different from quantitative in sample size, data collection, and data
analysis. In this research, the total number of the interviews with patients and
caregivers was 17, and with medical specialists – 4. However, contrary to the author’s
expectations, in the second stage only five interviews were finally conducted. This is
to say that in qualitative research it is more challenging to control each stage of the
research process and the researcher should be highly adaptive and flexible.
When performing data collection, a sample of the participants was selected
randomly and willingness to share was low in some cases; this had a direct impact on
richness and quality of the data. However, luckily, we had two active participants,
patient K and caregiver L, who provided us with a wealth of detailed information
during the total interview time of more than four hours. Another minor drawback was
that two participants, D and J, went through cancer treatment ten and twenty years
ago respectively, hence they shared more about how they acquire information now
during the follow-up phase, since the Internet and other sources were not widely
available at the time they were diagnosed with the condition. Another limitation was
the predominance of the participants in the follow-up stage with only 3 patients being
interviewed in the treatment stage.
Qualitative research is usually more time-consuming, unpredictable and requires
a prolonged interaction with the data. Sometimes there are moments when a
researcher is overwhelmed with the data and requires peer discussion during the data
analysis. Ideally, qualitative research should be carried out by a few researchers so
triangulation decrease subjectivity in interpretation and facilitated understanding can
be achieved. Conducting an interview can be a challenging task since the interviewees
are very distinct in their manners to express opinions, to answer questions precisely or
vaguely, or to be logical or coherent. There were cases during the study when
participants could spend half of the interviewing time sharing unrelated content, so for
the interviewers it was on occasion a demanding task to maintain the participants’
focus on relevant topics during conversations. In the case of HNC patients, a third of
the participants were from low socio-economic statuses, therefore, at times it was not
easy to have a comprehensive discussion with them. Domination by male participants
aggravated the communication problem as well. Moreover, carrying out interviews
using a second language and being unable to comprehend Taiwanese language was
another obstacle to the author.
Furthermore, the limitation in respect to existing research should be recognized.
The prevailing majority of the examined articles discussed the informational behavior
and needs of the patients from Western countries, primarily USA and Europe, with
little attention to Asian countries. As a result, an understanding of the development of
this topic in Asian context was limited.
Finally, since this type of research was conducted for the first time by the author,
thus previous experience was insufficient which also might have some impact on the
research quality. However, the author has attempted to deliver a credible research
complying with qualitative research guidelines.
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