General distinctions between selected qualitative research approaches: an illustration using breast cancer research
| Method | Research question | Analytic strategy | Research product |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grounded theory | How do women with breast cancer cope with changes to body image? | Constant comparative analysis | Theory regarding basic social processes involved in coping with breast cancer and factors that might account for variations |
| Phenomenology | What is the lived experience of having breast cancer? | Phenomenological reduction; hermeneutic analysis | Description of the essential structure of breast cancer experience |
| Ethnography | How is breast cancer understood and managed in different social contexts? | Representation, inscription, translation, and textualisation of culture into writing | Typology of interpretations, relations, and variations within breast cancer experience |
| Narrative analysis | How do women with breast cancer come to know their experience? | Generating, interpreting, and representing women's stories in narrative form | Narrative accounts of women's explanations for their breast cancer experiences |
