Using multiple datasets and multi sites in qualitative studies: Design complexities, management, and contributions

Abstract

Against the pressures to write and get research grants, it is becoming increasingly difficult to obtain funding for pure qualitative research studies. One solution has been to design qualitative research studies that are more complex and diverse. Indeed, qualitative research has moved from conducting a single study composing of one participant group with one data set in one site to becoming more sophisticated designs that include more than one participant group with multiple data sets in multisites. Indeed, questions like “the more the better,” “how large is enough,” “how diverse and broad has it got to be,” and “how complex does it need to get” may be posed along the way. Drawing on two distinct and large qualitative studies, a comparison will be made of a lone researcher’s management of three participant groups from three sites (3 × 3 data sets generating 105 interviews) project, with that of a three persons research team’s management of three participant groups from 16 sites (3 × 16 data sets generating 181 interviews) project. On hindsight now that the projects have completed, this presentation will reflect on the design complexities that need to be carefully considered in project planning and implementation and to share workable techniques to systematically manage the voluminous data sets for data analysis. The values and contributions of using multiple data sets across multisites in qualitative research studies in the future will be explored, together with a discussion of the issues surrounding sampling and data collection.