For a number of reasons qualitative techniques have taken firm root in
nursing research generally and are of growing importance in research
undertaken by nurse educators. But there is a great deal of confusion
about the nature of the data which are produced by qualitative researc
h, the way such data must be handled, and the use to which such data c
an be put. The confusion often results from a failure to differentiate
between several orientations to qualitative data. In the previous pap
er Positivist research was discussed. Non-positivist research is of a
number of kinds, despite often being treated as unified. Examples are:
(a) descriptive ('phenomenological') research - which seeks to give a
faithful account of an area of experience or of an aspect of the 'lif
e-world'; (b) interpretative ('hermeneutic') research - which aims to
show ways of making sense of experience; and (c) discourse analysis -
which draws out the socially available modes of thinking and action wh
ich reveal themselves in qualitative data.