For this week’s blog I will be focusing on Qualitative Research and how organizations depend on qualitative research. For example, “Qualitative research tries to describe things, such as meanings that people attribute to certain terms and derive from certain messages and media.” Qualitative research attempts, “to delve into concepts, ideas definitions, characteristics, meaning, and symbols.”
The month of October is coming to an end, and what many fail to realize is that this month is of great importance to the American Cancer Society. This month is Breast Cancer Awareness month; according to their website, The American Cancer Society invests more in Breast Cancer research than in any other cancer type. "Society-funded research has led to the discovery of lifesaving breast cancer treatments, including Tamoxifen and Herceptin.” This made me wonder what other organizations are doing in terms of research specifically, qualitative research. I found a study completed by Wisconsin Women’s Health Foundation, Inc. They received a grant from Susan G. Komen Foundation. During their project, they used the qualitative method of focus group. A focus group is “a small number of persons, respondents and moderators, in the same room.” Focus groups are used to uncover opinions, experiences with a product or service, or with a generic category. For example,
The month of October is coming to an end, and what many fail to realize is that this month is of great importance to the American Cancer Society. This month is Breast Cancer Awareness month; according to their website, The American Cancer Society invests more in Breast Cancer research than in any other cancer type. "Society-funded research has led to the discovery of lifesaving breast cancer treatments, including Tamoxifen and Herceptin.” This made me wonder what other organizations are doing in terms of research specifically, qualitative research. I found a study completed by Wisconsin Women’s Health Foundation, Inc. They received a grant from Susan G. Komen Foundation. During their project, they used the qualitative method of focus group. A focus group is “a small number of persons, respondents and moderators, in the same room.” Focus groups are used to uncover opinions, experiences with a product or service, or with a generic category. For example,
“Between August 2001 and August 2002, the WWHF conducted five focus groups to establish barriers encountered by women in Dane County during diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer. Four of these focus groups included women who had received diagnosis of and/or treatment for breast cancer from healthcare providers in Dane County. The remaining focus group was composed of men serving as caregivers for women receiving breast cancer care in Dane County. Focus group participants were stratified by insurance status to assess the presence of insurance-based differences in treatment. Results in this report are provided specific to each insurance status focus group but aggregate results representing common themes elicited from all groups will be reported when appropriate.
Through their research their main objectives were to find out and “report common barriers to care encountered by women in the four focus groups and to establish their collective voice regarding the improvement of breast cancer care in Dane County.” What I found very interesting was how for their focus groups, WWHF “employed a third-party moderator to direct the discussion during each 2-hour session. Each group consisted of five (5) to eleven (11) women of the same insurance status." Overall, WWHF is a prime example of how qualitative research is used within an organization. If you would like to read more into their focus groups and project please visit this website.
Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk!! is this Sunday October 24!!, in New Haven, CT! Hope to see some of you there! If you would like more information please visit this website.
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