Anonymising interview data: Challenges and compromise in practice

BMC medical ethics, 2018

Patients in a vegetative state/ unresponsive wakefulness syndrome (VS/UWS) pose ethical dilemmas to those involved. Many conflicts occur between professionals and families of these patients. In the Netherlands physicians are supposed to withdraw life sustaining treatment once recovery is not to be expected. Yet these patients have shown to survive sometimes for decades. The role of the families is thought to be important. The aim of this study was to make an inventory of the professional perspective on conflicts in long-term care of patients in VS/UWS. A qualitative study of transcripts on 2 Moral Deliberations (MD's) in 2 cases of patients in VS/UWS in long-term care facilities. Six themes emerged: 1) Vision on VS/UWS; 2) Treatment and care plan; 3) Impact on relationships; 4) Feelings/attitude; 5) Communication; 6) Organizational aspects. These themes are related to professionals and to what families had expressed to the professionals. We found conflicts as well as contradicto...

Qualitative Health Research

Qualitative researchers are increasingly reanalyzing and synthesizing data sets from different studies, and this method has now been used across trials to inform trial methodology and delivery. Despite this work, however, limited guidance exists about how this method should be employed. This article details an example in which interview data collected during three primary care depression trials were brought together to explore trial participants’ study and treatment journeys. It details the process involved and the decisions made. It also presents findings from this synthesis to illustrate how this method can be used to inform the development of future trials and complex interventions, through raising questions about how researchers currently define and design treatment arms and indicating what factors may improve or hinder participants’ engagement with their allocated treatment.

BMC Medical Education

Background Previous studies show that teachers can feel disturbed by alarming cases brought up by students during their teaching activities. Teachers may feel uncertain about how to deal with these cases, as they might feel responsible to take action to prevent further harm. This study aims to explore how ethics teachers in medical schools would respond to a student report of unethical or unprofessional behaviour during the clinical training phase (clerkship) that is alarming and potentially harmful for patients or students themselves. Methods This study used qualitative methods with purposive sampling. We conducted in-depth interviews with 17 teachers from 10 medical schools in Indonesia. We asked if they had heard any alarming and harmful cases from students and provided two cases as examples. Results Four teachers shared their own cases, which they perceived as disturbing and alarming. The cases included power abuse, fraud and deception, violation of patient’s rights and autonomy...

Third World Quarterly

Energy transitions in the Global South are typically said to sit somewhere between autocratic mega-projects with considerable fallout for local communities on the one hand, and promissory projects to foster a better, sustainable and more inclusive future on the other. Morocco's ambitious energy strategy entails the construction of 20 concentrated solar power (CSP) plants across the country and aims to provide energy security and position Morocco as an exporter of green energy. While energy transitions usually reflect existing power hierarchies, this article focuses on the dynamics Morocco's energy transition plan has set in motion at the local level in affected communities. Based on fieldwork in the province of Tata, where two CSP plants are planned, the article argues that the promising yet elusive vision of solar energy has created a space for political articulation and agency at the grassroots level. Morocco's energy transition is conceptualised in terms of an imaginary of 'green modernisation' that operates in two diverging dimensions: as an ideological glue legitimising and reproducing the regime's existing power by 'greening' its political-economic system; and as a site for novel forms of activism to problematise power structures and articulate demands for political participation, inclusion and public infrastructural investments.

Construction Management and Economics, 2021

The aim of this study was to examine the effect of low or very low amounts of alcohol consumption on the LPO-AOD systems of pregnant women and their infants after birth, and the effect of that exposure on infant, growth, health, and development. Methods and Results: A sample of 201 pregnant women (mother-child dyads) was recruited for the study. Pregnant women were categorized into three groups according to the amount of alcohol they consume: 1) non-drinking, 2) very low drinking, and 3) low drinking. Small amounts of alcohol consumption caused dysfunction of the LPO-AOD system and the development of OS in women, and had negative effects on infants. The biomarkers of potentially harmful LPO, such as thiobarbituric acid reactants (TBARs), were higher in very low and low drinking mothers. The activity of the AOD system was lower among mothers who drank alcohol. Alcohol consumption decreased levels of retinol, SOD activity, GSH, and GR activity. Higher rates of pathological conditions, delayed development, and slower growth were observed among infants who were prenatally exposed to alcohol. Conclusion: Identification and preventive interventions are needed for pregnant women who use alcohol in any amount.

European Urban and Regional Studies, 2019

Recently proliferating ‘smart city’ building efforts have lent themselves well to interpretations through the lens of the policy mobilities literature. Applying this perspective, studies have insightfully shown how policymaking centred around smart cities is at once a messy, networked process stretching across scales, while also manifesting itself in concrete practices shaped by territorial–regulatory contexts. Informed by empirical research on smart city policies in Hungary and the Netherlands, this paper argues that the policy mobilities approach tends to overemphasize the global and the local. Notwithstanding the transnational circulation of smart city ideas, the national scale continues being reproduced by these ideas as a relevant scale of urban regulation, discursive framing and strategy-making under globalization. To acknowledge this, and to move towards a more decidedly multiscalar perspective on actually existing smart urbanisms, it is suggested that we incorporate the nati...

Healthcare, 2022

Objectives. The aim of this qualitative study was to explore the attitudes, beliefs, and preferences of Italian osteopaths regarding the management of transgender patients through a content analysis of emergent data from semi-structured interviews. Methods. This study was a content analysis based on the Standards for Reporting Qualitative Research guidelines. Purposive sampling of 10 Italian osteopaths was applied. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, from March to April 2021, and subsequently transcribed verbatim with the content analysis carried out as an iterative process. Results. One participant was excluded during the first interview due to them being unsuitable for this study. Data saturation was reached after two interviews with the remaining nine participants. Data analysis revealed four main themes: microaggressions, acceptance and non-judgement, person-centered treatment, and education implementation. Conclusions. This study presents cisgender Italian o...

Journal of bioethical inquiry, 2016

In this paper we contribute to "sociology in bioethics" and help clarify the range of ways sociological work can contribute to ethics scholarship. We do this using a case study of an innovative neurotechnology, functional magnetic resonance imaging, and its use to attempt to diagnose and communicate with severely brain-injured patients. We compare empirical data from interviews with relatives of patients who have a severe brain injury with perspectives from mainstream bioethics scholars. We use the notion of an "ethical landscape" as an analogy for the different ethical positions subjects can take-whereby a person's position relative to the landscape makes a difference to the way they experience and interact with it. We show that, in comparison to studying abstract ethics "from above" the ethical landscape, which involves universal generalizations and global judgements, studying ethics empirically "from the ground," within the ethical land...

Journal of Academic Ethics, 2019

Confidentiality represents a core principle of research ethics and forms a standard practice in social research. However, what should a researcher do if they learn about illegal activities or harm during the research process? Few systematic studies consider researchers' attitudes and reactions in such situations. This paper analyzes this issue on the basis of in-depth interviews with Polish sociologists and anthropologists who conduct qualitative research with vulnerable participants. It discusses the experiences and opinions of researchers concerning the maintenance or breaking of confidentiality in the context of knowledge about illegal activities and harm. It also examines the ways in which the researchers justified their decisions. Most of my interviewees respected confidentiality in spite of knowledge of crime or harm, and referred to their epistemological perspectives regarding the role of the researcher, implicit consequentialist ethical reasoning and personal values. Where researchers did break confidentiality, this owed to their personal values and willingness to protect their informants, especially in cases of minor levels of harm as opposed to serious crime. Therefore, their experiences indicate the failure of both obligatory unconditional assurances of confidentiality and the requirement for researchers to assure confidentiality to the extent permitted by law. I argue that researchers do not need constrictive and potentially punitive rules about confidentiality, but rather sensitizing frameworks about how to contemplate and anticipate the many complexities and moral shadings of situations in the field.

Journal of General Internal Medicine, 2020

BACKGROUND: No-shows are a persistent and costly problem in all healthcare systems. Because forgetting is a common cause of no-shows, appointment reminders are widely used. However, qualitative research examining appointment reminders and how to improve them is lacking. OBJECTIVE: To understand how patients experience appointment reminders as part of intervention development for a pragmatic trial of enhanced appointment reminders. DESIGN: Qualitative content analysis PARTICIPANTS: Twenty-seven patients at a single Department of Veterans Affairs hospital and its satellite clinics APPROACH: We conducted five waves of interviews using rapid qualitative analysis, in each wave continuing to ask veterans about their experience of reminders. We doublecoded all interviews, used deductive and inductive content analysis to identify themes, and selected quotations that exemplified three themes (limitations, strategies, recommendations). KEY RESULTS: Interviews showed four limitations on the usability of current appointment reminders which may contribute to no-shows: (1) excessive information within reminders; (2) frustrating telephone systems when calling in response to an appointment reminder; (3) missing or cryptic information about clinic logistics; and (4) reminder fatigue. Patients who were successful at keeping appointments often used specific strategies to optimize the usability of reminders, including (1) using a calendar; (2) heightening visibility; (3) piggybacking; and (4) combining strategies. Our recommendations to enhance reminders are as follows: (1) mix up their content and format; (2) keep them short and simple; (3) add a personal touch; (4) include specifics on clinic location and contact information; (5) time reminders based on the mode of delivery; and (6) hand over control of reminders to patients. CONCLUSIONS: Appointment reminders are vital to prevent no-shows, but their usability is not optimized for patients. There is potential for healthcare systems to modify several aspects of the content, timing, and delivery of appointment reminders to be more effective and patientcentered.

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2021

The article focuses on a less-discussed issue of social marginalization of people leaving penitentiaries, which is the prevalence of multifaceted health problems experienced by people in this category. It includes poor health status, resulting from, among others, poor housing conditions, harmful or risky lifestyle, and lack of access to medical services. Data from the District Inspectorate of the Prison Service in Lodz, Poland on the health conditions of inmates was accessed. These data were supplemented by qualitative research conducted in 21 juvenile detention centers and 8 prisons across the country, conducting direct observations and In-Depth Interviews (IDI). A total of 198 IDIs were conducted with incarcerated (72) and released (30) juvenile offenders, and incarcerated (68) and released (28) adult offenders. These were complemented by IDIs with experts (50) and Focus Group Interviews (FGIs; 8) with male and female inmates in 4 Polish prisons. The study revealed that mental and...

BioSocieties

The #WeAreNotWaiting movement is a global digital health phenomenon in which people with diabetes, mainly type 1 diabetes (T1D), engage in the development and usage of open-source closed-loop technology for the improvement of their “chronic living” (Wahlberg et al. 2021). The characteristics of a digitally enabled and technologically engaged global activist patient collective feed into existing narratives of user-led and open-source innovation. They also call for more exploration of what it actually means to be locally involved in this kind of technologically mediated and global form of patient engagement. Building on empirical research conducted in the German healthcare context, we explore the different forms of material participation encountered among a group of people with T1D (who describe themselves as loopers), who are engaged in the development and usage of this open-source technology. Introducing the concept of device activism, we retrace three different device-centered narr...

Qualitative Research in Psychology, 2015

ABSTRACT How do researchers name people respectfully in research projects? In an interview study on aspects of aging, 38 participants were invited to choose their own pseudonyms for the research. The resulting discussions show that the common practice of allocating pseudonyms to confer anonymity is not merely a technical procedure, but renaming has psychological meaning to both the participants and the content and process of the research. The care and thought with which many participants chose their names, and the meanings or links associated with those names, illuminated the importance of the process of naming. There was evidence of rules and customs around naming that further confirmed its importance both within their sociocultural worlds, and as an act of research, affected by issues of power and voice, methodology, and research outputs. We invite researchers to consider a more nuanced engagement with participants regarding choosing pseudonyms in research.

Disabilities, 2022

This study examines the initial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on adults with physical disabilities from marginalized communities in southeastern Michigan, one of the early pandemic epicenters in the United States. A purposeful sample of fifteen adults with moderate to severe physical disabilities were recruited, taking part in individual remote semi-structured qualitative interviews, which were recorded, transcribed, and coded for emergent themes using a thematic approach to coding and analysis. Three interrelated, overarching themes emerged: fear, feelings of isolation, and a sense of being invisible. These were identified in the contexts of health and healthcare, home care assistance, and access to resources. The findings help illuminate the experiences of those from socioeconomically and racially marginalized communities, populations that are often “always already” vulnerable. Participant narratives made visible the negative impact of the pandemic on physical and mental health ...

Sustainability

With over 27.1 million refugees displaced globally across national borders as a result of protracted crises, conflict, and danger, resettlement in host nations remains challenging. One approach for empowering refugee women in their host nations is to enhance their economic participation through entrepreneurship. We contribute to the growing research on refugee women’s entrepreneurship by focusing on refugee women entrepreneurs as mentors to other refugee women and exploring the impact of mentoring upon the empowerment of refugee women business mentors. The aim of the study is to explore the impact of being a mentor on the empowerment of refugee women entrepreneurs settled in the United Kingdom. As such, the research question asks to what extent does being a mentor influence the empowerment of refugee women entrepreneurs. The qualitative study involved six refugee women business mentors who co-designed and led an entrepreneurship training programme for refugee women in the United Kin...

International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 2017

The ethics of research representation are rarely discussed. Yet representation can have a significant impact on research participants and audiences. This paper draws on some of the limited body of accounts of ethical challenges experienced in representing others in qualitative research. These accounts make clear that researchers often have to choose between 'competing goods' when representing others, such as participant control over what is presented and how, researchers' 'interpretive authority', and whether and how to represent participants' speech. These decisions frequently involve researchers choosing between 'literal' (empirical, evidence-based) and 'real' (authentic, experiential) truths. To resolve these dilemmas, some researchers are turning to creative methods of representation, such as poems, songs, plays and dance. Like all forms of representation, these methods require compromise: in particular, some detail, depth, or location may be sacrificed in return for accessible engagement with participants and wider audiences. Conversely, traditional methods of presentation may sacrifice some scope for engagement and accessibility in return for greater detail and depth. We argue that such sacrifices are a necessary component of all forms of qualitative representation and consequently require a reflexive approach to choices about representation. It is this reflexive approach which we argue constitutes an ethics of engagement.

Journal of Ethnic Foods, 2020

This article examines the experiences of (re)producing home food in the daily life and food practices of Belgian Taiwanese immigrant women. The research is based on ethnography—both online and offline—and qualitative semi-structured interviews with seventeen Taiwanese immigrant women/housewives in Belgium. Participants’ food practices involve buying, growing, making, and sharing food. Buying Taiwanese food ingredients presents a genuine challenge, as Chinese and Asian supermarkets in Belgium do not carry all Taiwanese food items. Consequently, many Taiwanese immigrant women and housewives in this study share similar experiences of growing specific foods in their home garden; moreover, by doing so, they also transform their gardens in their private homes into transnational social spaces, and thereby connect their previous lived experiences and homeland memories with their present living circumstances. Moreover, Taiwanese immigrant women like to prepare and cook food with their husban...

Frontiers in Genetics, 2022

Genomic sequencing has been increasingly utilized for prenatal diagnosis in recent years and this trend is likely to continue. However, decision-making for parents in the prenatal period is particularly fraught, and prenatal sequencing would significantly expand the complexity of managing health risk information, reproductive options, and healthcare access. This qualitative study investigates decision-making processes amongst parents who enrolled or declined to enroll in the prenatal arm of the California-based Program in Prenatal and Pediatric Genome Sequencing (P3EGS), a study in the Clinical Sequencing Evidence-Generating Research (CSER) consortium that offered whole exome sequencing for fetal anomalies with a focus on underrepresented groups in genomic research. Drawing on the views of 18 prenatal families who agreed to be interviewed after enrolling (n = 15) or declining to enroll (n = 3) in P3EGS, we observed that the timing of sequencing, coupled with unique considerations around experiences of time during pregnancy and prenatal testing, intersect with structural supports beyond the clinic to produce preferences for and against prenatal sequencing and to contain the threat of unwelcome, uncertain knowledge. Particularly for those without structural supports, finding out consequential information may be more palatable after the birth, when the first stage of the uncertain future has been revealed. Future research should examine the role of temporality in decision-making around prenatal genomic sequencing across diverse population cohorts, in order to observe more precisely the role that structural barriers play in patient preferences.

Journal of Capital Markets Studies

PurposeThere is a pressing need to increase investments in sustainable infrastructure to promote low carbon economic growth and ensure environmental sustainability. Consequently, this study examines the socio-political factors underlying the adoption of green bond financing of infrastructure projects.Design/methodology/approachPrimary data was gathered from experts with advanced experience in, or knowledge of green bonds in the Kumasi Metropolis. To identify respondents with pertinent knowledge that is relevant to the study, purposive and snowball sampling techniques were used. One-sample t-test and relative importance index were used in this study's statistical analysis.Findings‘Training and experience with sustainable finance’ was seen as the most important social factor underlying the adoption of green bond financing of infrastructure projects by the respondents and ‘Governmental tax-based incentives’ was rated as the leading political factor.Originality/valueThis pioneering ...

International Journal of Human–Computer Interaction, 2021

Iterative design, implementation, and evaluation of prototype systems is a common approach in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and Usable Privacy and Security (USEC); however, research involving physical prototypes can be particularly challenging. We report on twelve interviews with established and nascent USEC researchers who prototype security and privacy-protecting systems and have published work in top-tier venues. Our interviewees range from professors to senior PhD candidates, and researchers from industry. We discussed their experiences conducting USEC research that involves prototyping, opinions on the challenges involved, and the ecological validity issues surrounding current evaluation approaches. We identify the challenges faced by researchers in this area such as the high costs of conducting field studies when evaluating hardware prototypes, the scarcity of open-source material, and the resistance to novel prototypes. We conclude with a discussion of how the USEC community currently supports researchers in overcoming these challenges and places to potentially improve support.

Palliative Medicine, 2020

Background: Increasing evidence shows that advance care planning is effective in improving outcomes. However, its applicability and acceptability outside Western cultures remain unknown. Examination of relevant cultural adaptations is required prior to wider adoption. Aim: To examine the feasibility and acceptability of a culturally adapted advance care planning intervention in a Taiwanese inpatient hospital for advanced cancer patients, family members and healthcare professionals. Methods: A single-group, non-controlled, mixed methods feasibility study guided by a previously developed logic model. The culturally adapted advance care planning intervention represented a one-time intervention, comprising pre-advance care planning preparation and follow-up consultation. Qualitative interviews explored participants’ view on their involvement in the study. Patients’ medical records were examined to assess intervention fidelity. Findings from both data sets were integrated following analy...

Business History, 2020

Since the fall of Communism in 1989, the Czechs have received considerable foreign direct investment from Germany. But the historical relationship between the Czechs and Germans has long been a difficult one. The legacy of the past still overshadows the relationship between the Czech Republic and Germany even after the accession of the Czech Republic to the European Union. The paper examines how Czech managers in a joint venture with a German organization drew upon narratives and metaphors of the history of their relationship and historical stereotypes of German behaviour rather than economic explanations to understand and explain their experience of a failed joint venture.

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2021

Both juvenile and adult criminal careers show regularities in the origins of delinquency, the dynamics of the criminal pathway, and the turning points that lead to desistance/persistence in crime. Research shows that family, education, and friendship environments contribute significantly to the individual choices that create criminal biographies. Our aim was to apply core aspects of life course theory (LCT): trajectory, the aged-graded process, transitions, institutions, and ultimately how desistance/persistence factor into explaining the criminal careers of Polish offenders. The research is based on in-depth interviews (130) carried out with both offenders (90) and experts (40). The offenders were divided into two groups: 30 were juveniles, and 60 were adults of whom half were sentenced for the first time (30) and half were recidivists (30) located in correctional institutions or released. The experts group (40) includes psychologists, educators, social rehabilitators, and prison a...

International Journal of Information and Education Technology

The crucial problem in implementing Vocational Education on diplomas in Indonesia is the relevance of competence to industry needs, work culture, and sustainable career development. The industrial internship is one of the programs and subjects organized by Vocational Education to unravel the available chain of problems. However, the fact is that the implementation of industrial internships has not positively impacted students. This study explores industry and education practitioners' perceptions regarding applying work-based learning through an industrial internship for Vocational Education Diploma (VED). Fourteen expert practitioners were involved in data collection through semi-structured interviews. Qualitative data were analyzed thematically using NVivo 12. The findings in this study were grouped into two clusters or themes, namely the role of diploma education and the skills needed by students during internships in the automotive industry. The education sector must understa...

Journal of Urban Management, 2021

This article investigates how planning policies have shaped urban form and mobility behavior in the rapidly urbanized metropolitan area of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. We argue that the complex chain of consequences of previous policies and their implementation processes can be understood from the socio-spatial dynamics that result from the interaction between people and their built environment. Using the case of Kuala Lumpur, we provide empirical evidence of these sociospatial dynamics through (1) the identification of key policies, (2) an understanding of Kuala Lumpur's spatial configuration using space syntax, and (3) in-depth interviews to reveal mobility behavior. Our findings suggest that Kuala Lumpur's previous road expansion policies, national car project, and fragmented new town development have created an urban form that encourages vehicular instead of pedestrian movement. Consequently, this has induced an automobile dependence and culture that conflicts with the country's current initiatives on sustainable development. For policymakers and planners, these findings provide awareness that policy impacts span across generations and scales, making them difficult to reverse and take a long time to be fixed. We conclude with practical insights on how to reverse the unsustainable path through socio-spatial innovations and research directions to address the ongoing vehicular dominance and automobile society in Kuala Lumpur.

Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 2019

Individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) are more likely to experience bullying and other forms of victimization than are individuals without disabilities (Blake, Lund, Zhou, Kwok, & Benz, 2012). Those with intellectual disability and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are at greatest risk of being bullied (Sterzing, Shattuck, Narendorf, Wagner, & Cooper, 2012). Bullying is any undesired aggressive behaviour perpetrated by a peer involving a real or perceived imbalance of power and is likely to be repeated over time (Gladden, Vivolo-Kantor, Hamburger, & Lumpkin, 2014). There are four subtypes, including verbal bullying, physical bullying, relational bullying and damage to property. For individuals with and without IDD, experiences of bullying are related to a host of emotional problems, including anxiety, depression, low self-esteem and aggressive behaviour (Adams,

Environment, Development and Sustainability

Climate change impacts on populations have increased the number of affected people and climate migrants worldwide. Although the nexus between climate change and migration is not monolithic, analyses of individual-level factors at the local scale that reveal the specific drivers of migration are lacking. Here, we show that people are motivated by individual calculations, prioritizing economic and social factors when deciding to migrate. We use data from 53 structured interviews to decompose the assessment of the decision-making process of people deciding to migrate from a region highly vulnerable to climate change, assessing the internal and external migratory potential. The assessment of migration potential evidenced that potential migrants react and make decisions based on perceptions and preferences among economic, social, environmental, and cultural factors when migrating and value these factors differently. Our spatial multi-criteria model reports disaggregation in that people p...

Scandinavian Journal of Military Studies

This article explores the negotiation and performance of female social identities within the Norwegian Army, drawing on eight qualitative in-depth interviews with female soldiers. Using Goffman's concept of identity performance, the study examines how these women adapt their behavior and expectations to conform to the normative soldier role. One important finding of the study is the potential impact of identity negotiation processes on the silencing of women soldiers' voices, particularly when it comes to reporting misconduct or unethical behavior. By exploring how their identities are shaped within their institutional setting, the study complements our existing knowledge of how mechanisms of identity formation can contribute to the suppression of women soldiers' voices. Moreover, the study suggests that understanding female identity performance and negotiations in the military is crucial for contextualizing and comprehending the potential discouragement of whistleblowing activities. It identifies the concept of identity performance as a valuable theoretical framework for understanding the shaping of women soldiers' identities and the dynamic of whistleblowing activities within institutional contexts like the military.

Asian-Pacific Journal of Second and Foreign Language Education

This study explores teachers’ perspectives with regards to teaching English in virtual classrooms, specifically with regards to teaching English as a second language within the context of emergency remote learning in Hong Kong during COVID-19. Through undertaking thematic analysis of six interviews with English language teachers at a university in Hong Kong, this study explores how teachers view the benefits, challenges and personal and professional consequences of the shift to emergency remote teaching during the pandemic. Taking a social constructivist approach to the topic, the study also seeks to uncover how teachers view such provisions as being improved under future emergencies and with respect to online English language teaching moving forwards generally. This research topic contributes both to a longstanding debate on the ways in which digital technologies can enhance education and language learning, as well as the emerging body of literature examining how teachers and stude...

Qualitative Research, 2018

This research note describes the use of composite narratives to present interview data. A composite narrative uses data from several individual interviews to tell a single story. In the research discussed here, investigating how politicians consider climate change, four composites were created from fourteen interviews with Members of the UK Parliament. A method for creating composite narratives is described. Three, linked, benefits of the technique are discussed. First, they allow researchers to present complex, situated accounts from individuals, rather than breaking data down into categories. Second, they confer anonymity, vital when reporting on private deliberations, particularly if interviewees are public figures. Third, they can contribute to ‘future-forming’ research, by presenting findings in ways that are useful and accessible to those outside academia. The main limitation of composite narratives is the burden of responsibility upon the researcher, to convey accurate, yet a...

Australian Psychologist, 2016

The objective of the current study was to explore what factors might impact the psychological wellbeing of adult, Australian professional actors. Method: Twenty South Australian actors were recruited using purposive and snowball sampling. Ten were male and 10 female, ranging in age from 22 to 66 years old, with self-reported professional experience ranging from 1 to 50 years. The participants were interviewed indepth about their experiences of being an actor, with a particular focus on wellbeing, and the data were analysed using thematic analysis, with numerous checks in place for methodological rigour. Results: Two broad categories of themes were established; environmental and personal factors. Environmental factors included power, lifestyle, fringe-dwelling, engagement, the tribe, and taking care of yourself. Personal factors included pursuit, strengths, the calling, precariousness and looking within. Conclusions: Themes were considered in terms of contemporary wellbeing theory, along with clinical implications relating to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition (DSM5). Findings included: actors experience a range of threats to wellbeing, such as problems with autonomy, lack of environmental mastery, complex interpersonal relationships and high self-criticism. Factors facilitating wellbeing include ongoing personal growth and a sense of purpose. The findings also suggest that actors are vulnerable to depression, generalised anxiety symptoms, vicarious trauma, and perfectionism.