Joanna Brooks

The University of Manchester · Manchester Centre for Health Psychology

The purpose of this paper is to offer a comprehensive guide for novice researchers (mostly applicable to PhD students and those new to qualitative research), teachers, and reviewers of qualitative psychology research methods. This paper delineates the main quality criteria across qualitative methods: providing a holistic framework that covers funda...

Background The Manchester Intermittent versus Daily Diet App Study (MIDDAS) tested the feasibility and potential efficacy of two remotely delivered low‐energy diet (LED) programmes (800 kcal/day) to support weight loss and remission of type 2 diabetes: continuous [CLED] (8 weeks of daily LED) and intermittent [ILED] (2 days of LED/week for 28 weeks...

Objective: (i) To systematically identify constructs and outcome measures used to assess the emotional and mood impact of false positive breast screening test results; (ii) to appraise the reporting clarity and rationale for selecting constructs and outcome measures. Methods: Databases (MEDLINE, CINAHL, PsycINFO) were systematically searched fro...

Background Understanding healthcare professionals' (HCPs) experiences of caring for women with false‐positive screening test results in the National Health Service Breast Screening Programme (NHSBSP) is important for reducing the impact of such results. Methods Interviews were undertaken with 12 HCPs from a single NHSBSP unit, including advanced r...

Phenomenon: There is a paucity of research reporting the experiences of general practitioner clinical educators. Providing education for students could lead to better clinical skills and greater job satisfaction for the educator. However, it could also result in increased stress and mental fatigue, adding to what is an already pressured situation i...

Principles and applications of open science (also referred to as open research or open scholarship) in psychology have emerged in response to growing concerns about the replicability, transparency, reproducibility, and robustness of psychological research alongside global moves to open science in many fields. Our objective in this paper is to infor...

Introduction Digital diabetes management systems have the potential to deliver cost-effective, flexible self-management support to patients with type 2 diabetes. DiabetesMyWay (DMW) is a platform for an open access website that aims to support diabetes self-management and provide patients with access to their care records. We present a case study f...

Background Type 2 Diabetes (T2D) is common, with a prevalence of approximately 7% of the population in the United Kingdom. The quality of T2D care is inconsistent across the United Kingdom, and Greater Manchester (GM) does not currently achieve the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence treatment targets. Barriers to delivery of care inc...

Principles and applications of open science (also referred to as open research or open scholarship) in psychology have emerged in response to growing concerns about the replicability, transparency, reproducibility, and robustness of psychological research alongside global moves to open science in many fields. Our objective in this paper is to infor...

Aims and objectives To explore what women aged below the national screening age in the UK know and think about cervical cancer and cervical screening. Background The efficacy of cervical cancer screening is well established. However, cervical screening attendance in the United Kingdom has decreased, with especially low rates at the first screening...

Previous research has identified how menstruation is an important factor in both attempted and completed suicides for women. The purpose of this review was to outline (a) the risk profile for suicidality in women who were identified to experience Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD), a condition characterized by severe physical and psychological...

BACKGROUND Digital diabetes management systems have the potential to deliver cost-effective self-management support. DiabetesMyWay (DMW) is a platform for an open access website that includes a variety of multimedia resources including offering patients access to their clinical data in the form of an electronic personal health record. DMW aims to i...

Background Premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) is a complex and disabling condition that affects women of reproductive age, characterised by severe physical and psychological symptoms that occur cyclically and remit following the onset of menses. As the psychological nature and consequences of PMDD often seem indistinguishable from symptoms of o...

The value of qualitative evidence synthesis for informing healthcare policy and practice within evidence-based medicine is increasingly recognised. However, there is a lack of consensus regarding how to judge the methodological quality of qualitative studies being synthesised and debates around the extent to which such assessment is possible and ap...

Objective Primary schools are crucial settings for early weight management interventions but effects on children’s weight are small and evidence shows that deficiencies in intervention implementation may be responsible. Very little is known about the roles of multiple stakeholders in the process of implementation. We used a multiple-stakeholder qua...

This article examines how client expectations about psychological therapy compare with subjective experiences of undertaking therapy. We interviewed 10 clients who had recently completed therapy about their expectations and experiences, and thematically analysed data in the template style. Three themes are presented ([1]”I didn't know what I was ca...

The Teaching Qualitative Psychology Group (TQP) is a group of experienced academics supporting the sharing of best practice in the teaching and supervision of qualitative research methods in psychology. In this paper the group share their knowledge and practice suggestions with a specific focus on supporting academics who do not come from a qualita...

Background Brainwave entrainment (BWE) using rhythmic visual or auditory stimulation has many potential clinical applications, including the management of chronic pain, where there is a pressing need for novel, safe and effective treatments. The aim of this study was to gain qualitative feedback on the acceptability and usability of a novel BWE sma...

Introduction: Mental health nurses have a professional obligation to attend to service users' spiritual needs, but little is known about specific issues related to provision of care for spiritual need faced by mental health nurses or how nurses understand this aspect of care and deliver it in practice. Aim/question: To explore mental health nurs...

Background: This is the first review to identify, appraise and synthesise women's experiences of having a false-positive breast screening test result. Methods: We systematically searched eight databases for qualitative research reporting women's experiences of receiving a false-positive screening test result. Two reviewers independently screened...

This article summarises the standpoint of the Qualitative Methods in Psychology Section of the British Psychological Society regarding the current position of qualitative research in psychology in the United Kingdom. The article is in three parts. Part one documents the historical development of the section, outlining its rationale, remit, and curr...

British Psychological Society regarding the current position of qualitative research in psychology in the UK. The article is in three parts. Part one documents the historical development of the section, outlining its rationale, remit and current activities. These activities aim to champion and develop qualitative methods in psychology, supporting h...

Aim The provision and implementation of early intervention for psychosis services (early intervention services [EIS]) has received increasing attention over recent years. Maximizing engagement with EIS is of clinical and economic importance, and exploring the experiences of those who access EIS is vital. Although research has been conducted explori...

Aim Early intervention for psychosis services (EIS) has been established worldwide and is offered to individuals experiencing a first episode of psychosis. Engagement with EIS typically lasts for 3 years, after which point, service users are either transferred to primary care or community mental health teams, according to perceived needs. Although...

Thematic methods of data analysis are widely used in qualitative organizational research. In this chapter, we will introduce you to Template Analysis (King and Brooks, Template Analysis for Business and Management Students. London: Sage, 2017), a particular style of thematic analysis that has been widely used in organizational and management resear...

Invited commentary on Corr et al. (Br J Dermatol 2017; 177:771–778) and the use of qualitative approaches in applied (dermatology) research

Linked Article: Corr et al. Br J Dermatol 2017; 177:771–778.

Background Collaborative working between professionals is a key component of integrated care. The academic literature on it largely focuses either on integration between health and social care or on the dynamics of power and identity between doctors and nurses. With the proliferation and extension of nursing roles, there is a need to examine collab...

Purpose: To engage with a wide range of key stakeholders (members of the public, creative practitioners, health and social care professionals) to reflect on the impact of creative activity on mental health and wellbeing Background: Creative activity can have positive impacts on physical and mental health, with the evidence of beneficial effects ex...

Purpose To describe a qualitative evaluation of ‘The Great Outdoors’, a project run by a small mental health charity in West Yorkshire Background Drawing on the widely-recognised benefits of outdoor activity on mental and physical health, ‘The Great Outdoors’ (TGO) is a community based project which provides opportunities to improve well-being thr...

With a highly pragmatic, yet rigorous and theoretically driven approach, this edited book demonstrates why qualitative research in psychology matters, and how it is applied in real world settings. Employing examples of qualitative research from across the different sub-disciplines of psychology, a range of experts in a broad spread of methods show...

Poster

The term 'phenomenology' is perhaps not well understood by those less involved in qualitative research. It has developed and diversified to encompass a bewildering array of different traditions and methods. This article provides a whistle-stop tour of its history, key figures and applications in psychology. Leading qualitative psychologists then ex...

Background It is proposed that family members are important sources of support in helping those with chronic musculoskeletal pain to remain at work, but the phenomenon remains largely unexplored. The aim of this study was to examine the extent and nature of support provided by family members in this respect. Methods Qualitative data were collected...

Aim: To review the literature on selected cancers in order to identify implications for the development of services to support patients experiencing difficulties associated with active and advanced disease.

Thematic analysis is widely used in qualitative psychology research, and in this article, we present a particular style of thematic analysis known as Template Analysis. We outline the technique and consider its epistemological position, then describe three case studies of research projects which employed Template Analysis to illustrate the diverse...

T1D) is amongst the most common form of chronic illness affecting young people in the UK. Self-management is crucial, but managing their T1D is often difficult for young people 2 . The social focus of young people shifts through adolescence from their family to their friends. Peer influences can have an impact across a range of adolescent behaviour...

Case formulation is promoted as a therapeutic practice which provides an important alternative to psychiatric diagnosis, and many UK training programs for therapists now emphasise the teaching of formulation skills. Formulation is considered to ensure that interventions are developed in a rigorous manner, drawing on generic psychological theory but...

Pictor is a graphical visual technique with its origins in personal construct psychology and phenomenology. It was developed to explore experiences of collaborative working in health and social care contexts, but may be used in any setting where people with different backgrounds or perspectives need to interact around a specific task or goal. In th...

The Midhurst Macmillan Specialist Palliative Care Service (MMSPCS) is a UK, medical consultant-led, multidisciplinary team aiming to provide round-the-clock advice and care, including specialist interventions, in the home, community hospitals and care homes. Of 389 referrals in 2010/11, about 85% were for cancer, from a population of about 155 000....

In this chapter, we introduce the reader to Template Analysis, a method of thematically organising and analysing qualitative data in social science research. We outline the basic principles of the method and describe the main procedural steps involved in undertaking Template Analysis. We then use an example from our own research (the qualitative ev...

Treatment expectations form a fundamental component of the self-regulatory model of health behavior, which defines such cognitions as illness perceptions. Unrealistic and/or unhelpful treatment expectations have been linked to detrimental clinical and work outcomes in those with persistent low back pain. However, research of this nature has rarely...

Collaborative working is a crucial part of contemporary health and social care. Researching the experiences of those involved-as professionals, patients, or carers-is challenging, given the complexity of many cases and the taken-for-granted nature of roles and identities in relation to it. In this article we introduce the Pictor technique for explo...

Objectives: Social isolation and stigma are frequently reported by patients with chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis and relationships in the home environment with those close to the patients (their 'significant others') may thus be particularly important. Rather little attention has yet been paid to the beliefs and experiences of '...

Background Previous research has demonstrated that the significant others of individuals with persistent back pain may have important influences on work participation outcomes. The aim of this study was to extend previous research by including individuals who have remained in work despite persistent back pain in addition to those who had become inc...

To test an attribution-emotion model of reactions to chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis, 30 significant others of 30 adult patients with chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis were administered a semi-structured interview about their beliefs regarding the patient's illness and completed questionnaire measures of distress...

Free Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS) is licensed to allow users the freedom to copy, reuse, study and develop the software. As a term which efficiently encompasses both ‘free software’ and ‘open-source’ models, FLOSS may offer music practitioners and researchers the opportunity to develop and use such software without becoming mired in a particu...

The evidence base for a range of psychosocial and behavioural interventions in managing and supporting patients with long-term conditions (LTCs) is now well-established. With increasing numbers of such patients being managed in primary care, and a shortage of specialists in psychology and behavioural management to deliver interventions, therapeutic...

Individual illness perceptions have been highlighted as important influences on clinical outcomes for back pain. However, the illness perceptions of 'significant others' (spouse/partner/close family member) are rarely explored, particularly in relation to persistent back pain and work participation. The aim of this study was to initiate qualitative...

To establish what factors are important for patients to engage in a new intervention for chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME) and make recommendations to general practitioners (GPs) on preparing a patient for referral to such a service. NICE guidelines recommend a prominent role for primary care in the management of patients...

To review out-of-pocket costs related to cancer that are borne by patients and their families. A literature search using key terms relating to out-of-pocket costs incurred by cancer patients and their families was undertaken to generate a comprehensive narrative synthesis of the information available. Four themes were identified: measuring costs; s...

Survivorship following cancer diagnosis is increasing in prevalence; however, the research literature relating to the process of return to work is sparse. The limited literature suggests four groups of factors associated with return to work: (i) impact of cancer site, (ii) impact of treatment, (iii) occupational status and (iv) the roles of others....

With the burgeoning use of qualitative methods in health research, criteria for judging their value become increasingly necessary. Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) is a distinctive approach to conducting qualitative research being used with increasing frequency in published studies. A systematic literature review was undertaken to ide...

Objectives: To use qualitative research methods to carry out an in-depth examination of the beliefs that patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS, also known as ME) and their spouses hold about the illness, in particular contrasting how the condition is understood through the evidence of personal experience and by others. Methods: Leventhal's se...