CONDUCTING A LONGITUDINAL-STUDY - AN UNSANITIZED ACCOUNT

Sanitized accounts of research add little to the literature describing 'how' research is actually 'done'. This paper explores issues which e merged during the course of a longitudinal study which described the e xperiences of a cohort of 23 student nurses during their 3-year traini ng for registration as general nurses in the United Kingdom. The appro ach used was that of grounded theory. The students' changing perspecti ves were collected by the researcher utilizing participant observation and unstructured interview in various clinical settings. In recogniti on of the fact that this is a 'reflexive' account it is written in the first person. Issues addressed include my 'immersion' in the research process, my relationship with the students, the challenges which deri ve from researching in a shifting context and the use of grounded theo ry within the context of the study. (All the names of students involve d in the study are pseudonyms.)