qualitative bachelor thesis

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Tips for a qualitative dissertation

Veronika Williams

17 October 2017

Tips for students

This blog is part of a series for Evidence-Based Health Care MSc students undertaking their dissertations.

Undertaking an MSc dissertation in Evidence-Based Health Care (EBHC) may be your first hands-on experience of doing qualitative research. I chatted to Dr. Veronika Williams, an experienced qualitative researcher, and tutor on the EBHC programme, to find out her top tips for producing a high-quality qualitative EBHC thesis.

1) Make the switch from a quantitative to a qualitative mindset

It’s not just about replacing numbers with words. Doing qualitative research requires you to adopt a different way of seeing and interpreting the world around you. Veronika asks her students to reflect on positivist and interpretivist approaches: If you come from a scientific or medical background, positivism is often the unacknowledged status quo. Be open to considering there are alternative ways to generate and understand knowledge.

2) Reflect on your role

Quantitative research strives to produce “clean” data unbiased by the context in which it was generated.  With qualitative methods, this is neither possible nor desirable.  Students should reflect on how their background and personal views shape the way they collect and analyse their data. This will not only add to the transparency of your work but will also help you interpret your findings.

3)  Don’t forget the theory

Qualitative researchers use theories as a lens through which they understand the world around them. Veronika suggests that students consider the theoretical underpinning to their own research at the earliest stages. You can read an article about why theories are useful in qualitative research  here.

4) Think about depth rather than breadth

Qualitative research is all about developing a deep and insightful understanding of the phenomenon/ concept you are studying. Be realistic about what you can achieve given the time constraints of an MSc.  Veronika suggests that collecting and analysing a smaller dataset well is preferable to producing a superficial, rushed analysis of a larger dataset.

5) Blur the boundaries between data collection, analysis and writing up

Veronika strongly recommends keeping a research diary or using memos to jot down your ideas as your research progresses. Not only do these add to your audit trail, these entries will help contribute to your first draft and the process of moving towards theoretical thinking. Qualitative researchers move back and forward between their dataset and manuscript as their ideas develop. This enriches their understanding and allows emerging theories to be explored.

6) Move beyond the descriptive

When analysing interviews, for example, it can be tempting to think that having coded your transcripts you are nearly there. This is not the case!  You need to move beyond the descriptive codes to conceptual themes and theoretical thinking in order to produce a high-quality thesis.  Veronika warns against falling into the pitfall of thinking writing up is, “Two interviews said this whilst three interviewees said that”.

7) It’s not just about the average experience

When analysing your data, consider the outliers or negative cases, for example, those that found the intervention unacceptable.  Although in the minority, these respondents will often provide more meaningful insight into the phenomenon or concept you are trying to study.

8) Bounce ideas

Veronika recommends sharing your emerging ideas and findings with someone else, maybe with a different background or perspective. This isn’t about getting to the “right answer” rather it offers you the chance to refine your thinking.  Be sure, though, to fully acknowledge their contribution in your thesis.

9) Be selective

In can be a challenge to meet the dissertation word limit.  It won’t be possible to present all the themes generated by your dataset so focus! Use quotes from across your dataset that best encapsulate the themes you are presenting.  Display additional data in the appendix.  For example, Veronika suggests illustrating how you moved from your coding framework to your themes.

10) Don’t panic!

There will be a stage during analysis and write up when it seems undoable.  Unlike quantitative researchers who begin analysis with a clear plan, qualitative research is more of a journey. Everything will fall into place by the end.  Be sure, though, to allow yourself enough time to make sense of the rich data qualitative research generates.

Related course:

Qualitative research methods.

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Home   >>   Blog   >>   Tips on writing a qualitative dissertation or thesis, from Braun & Clarke – Part 1

Tips on writing a qualitative dissertation or thesis, from Braun & Clarke – Part 1

Our advice here relates to many forms of qualitative research, and particularly to research involving the use of thematic analysis (TA). 

Based on our experience of supervising students over two decades, as well as our writing on qualitative methodologies, we discuss what we think constitutes good practice – and note some common problems to avoid. 

Our first tip is  always to check local requirements ! Check what is required in your university context with regard to the format and presentation of your dissertation/thesis; if our advice clashes with this, discuss it with your supervisor. Sometimes requirements are “rules”, and sometimes they’re more norms and conventions, and there’s room to do things differently.

Qualitative centric research writing

Why might our advice here clash with what your local context expects or requires? The simple answer is that there isn’t a widely agreed on  single  standard for reporting qualitative research. Broadly speaking, there are two styles of qualitative research reporting – let’s call these “add qualitative research and stir” and “qualitative centric”. The “add qualitative and stir” style reflects the default conventions for reporting  quantitative  research slightly tweaked for qualitative research. Some characteristics of this style of reporting include: 

• third-person/passive voice
• searching out and identifying a “gap” in the literature in the introduction
• methodological critique of existing research; 
• and, when it comes to reporting the analysis, separate “results” and “discussion” sections. 

This style of reporting is far more widely understood and accepted than the other. 

What we advocate for is a “qualitative centric” style of reporting – one that is more in line with the ethos and values of qualitative research. This style departs from quantitative norms of empirical research reporting, and is consequently less widely recognised and understood. 

This is why you might experience a clash between what we recommend as good practice and what is required in your local context. We experience this clash of reporting values all the time – we have been required by reviewers and editors on numerous occasions to turn our qualitative centric research papers into something more conventional, and our students have sometimes been required by examiners to turn their qualitative centric theses into something more conventional (e.g., by separating out an integrated “results and discussion” and including methodological critique in the introduction). 

We want to be open about the fact that there  can be  risks in a qualitative centric style of reporting! One of the aims of this blog post, and the  Twitter thread  on which it is based, is to increase understanding of qualitative centric reporting styles so that fewer qualitative researchers are required to rework their research report into something less reflective of the ethos of qualitative research. 

So, what are some of the features of a qualitative centric reporting style? Let’s work through a report section by section.

Introduction

Think of the opening section of your report not as a literature  review  but as an  introduction  – the introduction is highly likely to include discussion of relevant literature, but the goal of the introduction is not to review the literature and find a “gap”. Instead, your goal in this section is to provide a context and rationale for your research.

If you do discuss bodies of literature, try to avoid summarising study after study after study… instead overview and synthesise a body of literature (What questions have been asked? What, if any, assumptions have been made? What are some of the common themes across the literature?). Have the confidence to tell the reader something about the state of the literature from your perspective.

Theoretical consistency in your introduction 

If you embrace fully the ethos and values of qualitative research, you don’t just understand qualitative research as providing you with tools and techniques to generate and analyse data; you’re unlikely to be a committed positivist or (simple/pure) realist. So if you’re not a positivist or realist when conducting and reporting  your  own research, how should you handle reporting research in your introduction that  is  positivist/realist? We think it’s important to be theoretically consistent across  your  report! 

That means not being a positivist/realist in your introduction when discussing quantitative research, then shifting to being something else when reporting your research. It means you need to think carefully about how you present and frame the findings of quantitative research. As an example, don’t present results from other projects as statements of fact (e.g. by stating “gay men are more likely than straight men to experience poor body image”), but rather as what other research has reported e.g. by saying “several quantitative studies suggest that gay men are more likely than straight men to experience poor body image”. It’s a subtle but important difference. It shows the reader that you understand your theoretical approach, and that it doesn’t (necessarily) align with the philosophical assumptions underpinning the quantitative research. 

We would also advise against engaging in methodological critique based on the values and assumptions of quantitative research in an introduction (methodological critique consistent with the philosophical assumptions of your research may be appropriate).

Framing your research: inverted triangles or stacked boxes?

Ideally, your introduction will make an  argument for your research  and  frame it within relevant wider contexts . It will flow beautifully – the reader will always know why they are being told something and where they are being taken next. There will be no jumping around from one to another seemingly unrelated topic. 

To help with flow and structure, work out if your introduction is the classic “inverted triangle” (starts broad and gets increasingly more specific) or what we call the “stacking boxes” structure. With the latter, you have several different topics to discuss but they aren’t easily classifiable as broader or more specific, they are all roughly at the same level. Your task is to decide how to order or stack the boxes! This is a judgement call and you will often need to figure out what works best  as you write . We regularly advise our students to reorder their stack of boxes; we do the same with our own work. You can’t always know ahead of writing how things will flow. 

With a “stacking boxes” introduction, we strongly recommend having some signposting or an overview at the start of the introduction to help the reader understand what you will cover and where things are going. Try to have linking sentences between different topics or sections to signal transitions to the reader (we’ve been here, now we are going there…). 

Research questions/aims

Typically, we’d advise you to end the introduction with your research questions/aims*. Any question (or questions) and aims should make sense to the reader – they definitely should not come as a surprise! – in light of the context you have presented. You want the reader to almost expect and anticipate your research question; you want your research question to  make sense . 

*Though, in some instances, this  might  work best at the start, ahead of your box stack! In such cases, you should come back to it at the end or before the start of the methodology. This works within a qualitative-centric introduction because you are not building towards a great “reveal” of the “gap” you have identified. 

Make sure you formulate your research question in a way that is consistent with the ethos and values of qualitative research. Don’t frame your research question(s) as hypotheses or, indeed, discuss what you expect to find. A common error is to formulate a research question in terms of the impact or effect of X on Y – which is essentially a poorly-disguised quantitative hypothesis! Our book  Successful Qualitative Research  provides a detailed discussion of formulating research questions for qualitative research. If you’re using TA, we have recently published a paper  Conceptual and Design Thinking for Thematic Analysis  t hat includes guidance on appropriate research questions for reflective TA – the approach to TA that we developed and first wrote about in  2006 .

Circling back to the title 

Let us circle around to thesis/dissertation  titles  here too – qualitative research is nothing if not recursive! Double check your title to make sure it isn’t implicitly quantitatively framed either. You really don’t want the reader to read your title and the introduction and be expecting a quantitative study when they get to your research questions! Ideally a good title tells the reader something about the topic, the methodological approach and perhaps also a key message from the analysis. Short, evocative quotations from participants can make great titles. Here’s an example from a project on  gay fathers .

Read Part 2 of this blog.

Victoria Clarke and Virginia Braun’s forthcoming book is  Thematic Analysis: A Practical Guide . They have websites on  thematic analysis  and the  story completion method . You can find them both on  Twitter  –  @drvicclarke  and  @ginnybraun  – where they tweet regularly about qualitative research.

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About Victoria Clarke

Victoria is an Associate Professor in Qualitative and Critical Psychology at the University of the West of England, Bristol, UK. You can find her on Twitter - @drvicclarke - regularly tweeting about qualitative research.

View all posts by Victoria Clarke

About Virginia Braun

Virginia is a Professor in Psychology at The University of Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand. You can find her on Twitter - @ginnybraun – (re)tweeting about qualitative research and other issues.

View all posts by Virginia Braun

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Dissertation Structure & Layout 101: How to structure your dissertation, thesis or research project.

By: Derek Jansen (MBA) Reviewed By: David Phair (PhD) | July 2019

So, you’ve got a decent understanding of what a dissertation is , you’ve chosen your topic and hopefully you’ve received approval for your research proposal . Awesome! Now its time to start the actual dissertation or thesis writing journey.

To craft a high-quality document, the very first thing you need to understand is dissertation structure . In this post, we’ll walk you through the generic dissertation structure and layout, step by step. We’ll start with the big picture, and then zoom into each chapter to briefly discuss the core contents. If you’re just starting out on your research journey, you should start with this post, which covers the big-picture process of how to write a dissertation or thesis .

*The Caveat *

In this post, we’ll be discussing a traditional dissertation/thesis structure and layout, which is generally used for social science research across universities, whether in the US, UK, Europe or Australia. However, some universities may have small variations on this structure (extra chapters, merged chapters, slightly different ordering, etc).

So, always check with your university if they have a prescribed structure or layout that they expect you to work with. If not, it’s safe to assume the structure we’ll discuss here is suitable. And even if they do have a prescribed structure, you’ll still get value from this post as we’ll explain the core contents of each section.  

Overview: S tructuring a dissertation or thesis

• Acknowledgements page
• Abstract (or executive summary)
• Table of contents , list of figures and tables
• Chapter 1: Introduction
• Chapter 2: Literature review
• Chapter 3: Methodology
• Chapter 4: Results
• Chapter 5: Discussion
• Chapter 6: Conclusion
• Reference list

As I mentioned, some universities will have slight variations on this structure. For example, they want an additional “personal reflection chapter”, or they might prefer the results and discussion chapter to be merged into one. Regardless, the overarching flow will always be the same, as this flow reflects the research process , which we discussed here – i.e.:

• The introduction chapter presents the core research question and aims .
• The literature review chapter assesses what the current research says about this question.
• The methodology, results and discussion chapters go about undertaking new research about this question.
• The conclusion chapter (attempts to) answer the core research question .

In other words, the dissertation structure and layout reflect the research process of asking a well-defined question(s), investigating, and then answering the question – see below.

To restate that – the structure and layout of a dissertation reflect the flow of the overall research process . This is essential to understand, as each chapter will make a lot more sense if you “get” this concept. If you’re not familiar with the research process, read this post before going further.

Right. Now that we’ve covered the big picture, let’s dive a little deeper into the details of each section and chapter. Oh and by the way, you can also grab our free dissertation/thesis template here to help speed things up.

The title page of your dissertation is the very first impression the marker will get of your work, so it pays to invest some time thinking about your title. But what makes for a good title? A strong title needs to be 3 things:

• Succinct (not overly lengthy or verbose)
• Specific (not vague or ambiguous)
• Representative of the research you’re undertaking (clearly linked to your research questions)

Typically, a good title includes mention of the following:

• The broader area of the research (i.e. the overarching topic)
• The specific focus of your research (i.e. your specific context)
• Indication of research design (e.g. quantitative , qualitative , or  mixed methods ).

For example:

A quantitative investigation [research design] into the antecedents of organisational trust [broader area] in the UK retail forex trading market [specific context/area of focus].

Again, some universities may have specific requirements regarding the format and structure of the title, so it’s worth double-checking expectations with your institution (if there’s no mention in the brief or study material).

Acknowledgements

This page provides you with an opportunity to say thank you to those who helped you along your research journey. Generally, it’s optional (and won’t count towards your marks), but it is academic best practice to include this.

So, who do you say thanks to? Well, there’s no prescribed requirements, but it’s common to mention the following people:

• Your dissertation supervisor or committee.
• Any professors, lecturers or academics that helped you understand the topic or methodologies.
• Any tutors, mentors or advisors.
• Your family and friends, especially spouse (for adult learners studying part-time).

There’s no need for lengthy rambling. Just state who you’re thankful to and for what (e.g. thank you to my supervisor, John Doe, for his endless patience and attentiveness) – be sincere. In terms of length, you should keep this to a page or less.

Abstract or executive summary

The dissertation abstract (or executive summary for some degrees) serves to provide the first-time reader (and marker or moderator) with a big-picture view of your research project. It should give them an understanding of the key insights and findings from the research, without them needing to read the rest of the report – in other words, it should be able to stand alone .

For it to stand alone, your abstract should cover the following key points (at a minimum):

• Your research questions and aims – what key question(s) did your research aim to answer?
• Your methodology – how did you go about investigating the topic and finding answers to your research question(s)?
• Your findings – following your own research, what did do you discover?
• Your conclusions – based on your findings, what conclusions did you draw? What answers did you find to your research question(s)?

So, in much the same way the dissertation structure mimics the research process, your abstract or executive summary should reflect the research process, from the initial stage of asking the original question to the final stage of answering that question.

In practical terms, it’s a good idea to write this section up last , once all your core chapters are complete. Otherwise, you’ll end up writing and rewriting this section multiple times (just wasting time). For a step by step guide on how to write a strong executive summary, check out this post .

Need a helping hand?

Table of contents

This section is straightforward. You’ll typically present your table of contents (TOC) first, followed by the two lists – figures and tables. I recommend that you use Microsoft Word’s automatic table of contents generator to generate your TOC. If you’re not familiar with this functionality, the video below explains it simply:

If you find that your table of contents is overly lengthy, consider removing one level of depth. Oftentimes, this can be done without detracting from the usefulness of the TOC.

Right, now that the “admin” sections are out of the way, its time to move on to your core chapters. These chapters are the heart of your dissertation and are where you’ll earn the marks. The first chapter is the introduction chapter – as you would expect, this is the time to introduce your research…

It’s important to understand that even though you’ve provided an overview of your research in your abstract, your introduction needs to be written as if the reader has not read that (remember, the abstract is essentially a standalone document). So, your introduction chapter needs to start from the very beginning, and should address the following questions:

• What will you be investigating (in plain-language, big picture-level)?
• Why is that worth investigating? How is it important to academia or business? How is it sufficiently original?
• What are your research aims and research question(s)? Note that the research questions can sometimes be presented at the end of the literature review (next chapter).
• What is the scope of your study? In other words, what will and won’t you cover ?
• How will you approach your research? In other words, what methodology will you adopt?
• How will you structure your dissertation? What are the core chapters and what will you do in each of them?

These are just the bare basic requirements for your intro chapter. Some universities will want additional bells and whistles in the intro chapter, so be sure to carefully read your brief or consult your research supervisor.

If done right, your introduction chapter will set a clear direction for the rest of your dissertation. Specifically, it will make it clear to the reader (and marker) exactly what you’ll be investigating, why that’s important, and how you’ll be going about the investigation. Conversely, if your introduction chapter leaves a first-time reader wondering what exactly you’ll be researching, you’ve still got some work to do.

Now that you’ve set a clear direction with your introduction chapter, the next step is the literature review . In this section, you will analyse the existing research (typically academic journal articles and high-quality industry publications), with a view to understanding the following questions:

• What does the literature currently say about the topic you’re investigating?
• Is the literature lacking or well established? Is it divided or in disagreement?
• How does your research fit into the bigger picture?
• How does your research contribute something original?
• How does the methodology of previous studies help you develop your own?

Depending on the nature of your study, you may also present a conceptual framework towards the end of your literature review, which you will then test in your actual research.

Again, some universities will want you to focus on some of these areas more than others, some will have additional or fewer requirements, and so on. Therefore, as always, its important to review your brief and/or discuss with your supervisor, so that you know exactly what’s expected of your literature review chapter.

Now that you’ve investigated the current state of knowledge in your literature review chapter and are familiar with the existing key theories, models and frameworks, its time to design your own research. Enter the methodology chapter – the most “science-ey” of the chapters…

In this chapter, you need to address two critical questions:

• Exactly HOW will you carry out your research (i.e. what is your intended research design)?
• Exactly WHY have you chosen to do things this way (i.e. how do you justify your design)?

Remember, the dissertation part of your degree is first and foremost about developing and demonstrating research skills . Therefore, the markers want to see that you know which methods to use, can clearly articulate why you’ve chosen then, and know how to deploy them effectively.

Importantly, this chapter requires detail – don’t hold back on the specifics. State exactly what you’ll be doing, with who, when, for how long, etc. Moreover, for every design choice you make, make sure you justify it.

In practice, you will likely end up coming back to this chapter once you’ve undertaken all your data collection and analysis, and revise it based on changes you made during the analysis phase. This is perfectly fine. Its natural for you to add an additional analysis technique, scrap an old one, etc based on where your data lead you. Of course, I’m talking about small changes here – not a fundamental switch from qualitative to quantitative, which will likely send your supervisor in a spin!

You’ve now collected your data and undertaken your analysis, whether qualitative, quantitative or mixed methods. In this chapter, you’ll present the raw results of your analysis . For example, in the case of a quant study, you’ll present the demographic data, descriptive statistics, inferential statistics , etc.

Typically, Chapter 4 is simply a presentation and description of the data, not a discussion of the meaning of the data. In other words, it’s descriptive, rather than analytical – the meaning is discussed in Chapter 5. However, some universities will want you to combine chapters 4 and 5, so that you both present and interpret the meaning of the data at the same time. Check with your institution what their preference is.

Now that you’ve presented the data analysis results, its time to interpret and analyse them. In other words, its time to discuss what they mean, especially in relation to your research question(s).

What you discuss here will depend largely on your chosen methodology. For example, if you’ve gone the quantitative route, you might discuss the relationships between variables . If you’ve gone the qualitative route, you might discuss key themes and the meanings thereof. It all depends on what your research design choices were.

Most importantly, you need to discuss your results in relation to your research questions and aims, as well as the existing literature. What do the results tell you about your research questions? Are they aligned with the existing research or at odds? If so, why might this be? Dig deep into your findings and explain what the findings suggest, in plain English.

The final chapter – you’ve made it! Now that you’ve discussed your interpretation of the results, its time to bring it back to the beginning with the conclusion chapter . In other words, its time to (attempt to) answer your original research question s (from way back in chapter 1). Clearly state what your conclusions are in terms of your research questions. This might feel a bit repetitive, as you would have touched on this in the previous chapter, but its important to bring the discussion full circle and explicitly state your answer(s) to the research question(s).

Next, you’ll typically discuss the implications of your findings? In other words, you’ve answered your research questions – but what does this mean for the real world (or even for academia)? What should now be done differently, given the new insight you’ve generated?

Lastly, you should discuss the limitations of your research, as well as what this means for future research in the area. No study is perfect, especially not a Masters-level. Discuss the shortcomings of your research. Perhaps your methodology was limited, perhaps your sample size was small or not representative, etc, etc. Don’t be afraid to critique your work – the markers want to see that you can identify the limitations of your work. This is a strength, not a weakness. Be brutal!

This marks the end of your core chapters – woohoo! From here on out, it’s pretty smooth sailing.

The reference list is straightforward. It should contain a list of all resources cited in your dissertation, in the required format, e.g. APA , Harvard, etc.

It’s essential that you use reference management software for your dissertation. Do NOT try handle your referencing manually – its far too error prone. On a reference list of multiple pages, you’re going to make mistake. To this end, I suggest considering either Mendeley or Zotero. Both are free and provide a very straightforward interface to ensure that your referencing is 100% on point. I’ve included a simple how-to video for the Mendeley software (my personal favourite) below:

Some universities may ask you to include a bibliography, as opposed to a reference list. These two things are not the same . A bibliography is similar to a reference list, except that it also includes resources which informed your thinking but were not directly cited in your dissertation. So, double-check your brief and make sure you use the right one.

The very last piece of the puzzle is the appendix or set of appendices. This is where you’ll include any supporting data and evidence. Importantly, supporting is the keyword here.

Your appendices should provide additional “nice to know”, depth-adding information, which is not critical to the core analysis. Appendices should not be used as a way to cut down word count (see this post which covers how to reduce word count ). In other words, don’t place content that is critical to the core analysis here, just to save word count. You will not earn marks on any content in the appendices, so don’t try to play the system!

Time to recap…

And there you have it – the traditional dissertation structure and layout, from A-Z. To recap, the core structure for a dissertation or thesis is (typically) as follows:

• Acknowledgments page

Most importantly, the core chapters should reflect the research process (asking, investigating and answering your research question). Moreover, the research question(s) should form the golden thread throughout your dissertation structure. Everything should revolve around the research questions, and as you’ve seen, they should form both the start point (i.e. introduction chapter) and the endpoint (i.e. conclusion chapter).

I hope this post has provided you with clarity about the traditional dissertation/thesis structure and layout. If you have any questions or comments, please leave a comment below, or feel free to get in touch with us. Also, be sure to check out the rest of the  Grad Coach Blog .

Psst… there’s more (for free)

This post is part of our dissertation mini-course, which covers everything you need to get started with your dissertation, thesis or research project. 

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36 Comments

many thanks i found it very useful

Glad to hear that, Arun. Good luck writing your dissertation.

Such clear practical logical advice. I very much needed to read this to keep me focused in stead of fretting.. Perfect now ready to start my research!

what about scientific fields like computer or engineering thesis what is the difference in the structure? thank you very much

Thanks so much this helped me a lot!

Very helpful and accessible. What I like most is how practical the advice is along with helpful tools/ links.

Thanks Ade!

Thank you so much sir.. It was really helpful..

You’re welcome!

Hi! How many words maximum should contain the abstract?

Thank you so much 😊 Find this at the right moment

You’re most welcome. Good luck with your dissertation.

best ever benefit i got on right time thank you

Many times Clarity and vision of destination of dissertation is what makes the difference between good ,average and great researchers the same way a great automobile driver is fast with clarity of address and Clear weather conditions .

I guess Great researcher = great ideas + knowledge + great and fast data collection and modeling + great writing + high clarity on all these

You have given immense clarity from start to end.

Morning. Where will I write the definitions of what I’m referring to in my report?

Thank you so much Derek, I was almost lost! Thanks a tonnnn! Have a great day!

Thanks ! so concise and valuable

This was very helpful. Clear and concise. I know exactly what to do now.

Thank you for allowing me to go through briefly. I hope to find time to continue.

Really useful to me. Thanks a thousand times

Very interesting! It will definitely set me and many more for success. highly recommended.

Thank you soo much sir, for the opportunity to express my skills

Usefull, thanks a lot. Really clear

Very nice and easy to understand. Thank you .

That was incredibly useful. Thanks Grad Coach Crew!

My stress level just dropped at least 15 points after watching this. Just starting my thesis for my grad program and I feel a lot more capable now! Thanks for such a clear and helpful video, Emma and the GradCoach team!

Do we need to mention the number of words the dissertation contains in the main document?

It depends on your university’s requirements, so it would be best to check with them 🙂

Such a helpful post to help me get started with structuring my masters dissertation, thank you!

Great video; I appreciate that helpful information

It is so necessary or avital course

This blog is very informative for my research. Thank you

Doctoral students are required to fill out the National Research Council’s Survey of Earned Doctorates

wow this is an amazing gain in my life

This is so good

How can i arrange my specific objectives in my dissertation?

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Chapter 5: Qualitative descriptive research

Darshini Ayton

Learning outcomes

Upon completion of this chapter, you should be able to:

• Identify the key terms and concepts used in qualitative descriptive research.
• Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of qualitative descriptive research.

What is a qualitative descriptive study?

The key concept of the qualitative descriptive study is description.

Qualitative descriptive studies (also known as ‘exploratory studies’ and ‘qualitative description approaches’) are relatively new in the qualitative research landscape. They emerged predominantly in the field of nursing and midwifery over the past two decades. 1 The design of qualitative descriptive studies evolved as a means to define aspects of qualitative research that did not resemble qualitative research designs to date, despite including elements of those other study designs. 2

Qualitative descriptive studies  describe  phenomena rather than explain them. Phenomenological studies, ethnographic studies and those using grounded theory seek to explain a phenomenon. Qualitative descriptive studies aim to provide a comprehensive summary of events. The approach to this study design is journalistic, with the aim being to answer the questions who, what, where and how. 3

A qualitative descriptive study is an important and appropriate design for research questions that are focused on gaining insights about a poorly understood research area, rather than on a specific phenomenon. Since qualitative descriptive study design seeks to describe rather than explain, explanatory frameworks and theories are not required to explain or ‘ground’ a study and its results. 4 The researcher may decide that a framework or theory adds value to their interpretations, and in that case, it is perfectly acceptable to use them. However, the hallmark of genuine curiosity (naturalistic enquiry) is that the researcher does not know in advance what they will be observing or describing. 4 Because a phenomenon is being described, the qualitative descriptive analysis is more categorical and less conceptual than other methods. Qualitative content analysis is usually the main approach to data analysis in qualitative descriptive studies. 4 This has led to criticism of descriptive research being less sophisticated because less interpretation is required than with other qualitative study designs in which interpretation and explanation are key characteristics (e.g. phenomenology, grounded theory, case studies).

Diverse approaches to data collection can be utilised in qualitative description studies. However, most qualitative descriptive studies use semi-structured interviews (see Chapter 13) because they provide a reliable way to collect data. 3 The technique applied to data analysis is generally categorical and less conceptual when compared to other qualitative research designs (see Section 4). 2,3 Hence, this study design is well suited to research by practitioners, student researchers and policymakers. Its straightforward approach enables these studies to be conducted in shorter timeframes than other study designs. 3 Descriptive studies are common as the qualitative component in mixed-methods research ( see Chapter 11 ) and evaluations ( see Chapter 12 ), 1 because qualitative descriptive studies can provide information to help develop and refine questionnaires or interventions.

For example, in our research to develop a patient-reported outcome measure for people who had undergone a percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), which is a common cardiac procedure to treat heart disease, we started by conducting a qualitative descriptive study. 5 This project was a large, mixed-methods study funded by a private health insurer. The entire research process needed to be straightforward and achievable within a year, as we had engaged an undergraduate student to undertake the research tasks. The aim of the qualitative component of the mixed-methods study was to identify and explore patients’ perceptions following PCI. We used inductive approaches to collect and analyse the data. The study was guided by the following domains for the development of patient-reported outcomes, according to US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) guidelines, which included:

• Feeling: How the patient feels physically and psychologically after medical intervention
• Function: The patient’s mobility and ability to maintain their regular routine
• Evaluation: The patient’s overall perception of the success or failure of their procedure and their perception of what contributed to it. 5(p458)

We conducted focus groups and interviews, and asked participants three questions related to the FDA outcome domains:

• From your perspective, what would be considered a successful outcome of the procedure?

Probing questions: Did the procedure meet your expectations? How do you define whether the procedure was successful?

• How did you feel after the procedure?

Probing question: How did you feel one week after and how does that compare with how you feel now?

• After your procedure, tell me about your ability to do your daily activities?

Prompt for activities including gardening, housework, personal care, work-related and family-related tasks.

Probing questions: Did you attend cardiac rehabilitation? Can you tell us about your experience of cardiac rehabilitation? What impact has medication had on your recovery?

• What, if any, lifestyle changes have you made since your procedure? 5(p459)

Data collection was conducted with 32 participants. The themes were mapped to the FDA patient-reported outcome domains, with the results confirming previous research and also highlighting new areas for exploration in the development of a new patient-reported outcome measure. For example, participants reported a lack of confidence following PCI and the importance of patient and doctor communication. Women, in particular, reported that they wanted doctors to recognise how their experiences of cardiac symptoms were different to those of men.

The study described phenomena and resulted in the development of a patient-reported outcome measure that was tested and refined using a discrete-choice experiment survey, 6 a pilot of the measure in the Victorian Cardiac Outcomes Registry and a Rasch analysis to validate the measurement’s properties. 7

Advantages and disadvantages of qualitative descriptive studies

A qualitative descriptive study is an effective design for research by practitioners, policymakers and students, due to their relatively short timeframes and low costs. The researchers can remain close to the data and the events described, and this can enable the process of analysis to be relatively simple. Qualitative descriptive studies are also useful in mixed-methods research studies. Some of the advantages of qualitative descriptive studies have led to criticism of the design approach, due to a lack of engagement with theory and the lack of interpretation and explanation of the data. 2

Table 5.1. Examples of qualitative descriptive studies

Qualitative descriptive studies are gaining popularity in health and social care due to their utility, from a resource and time perspective, for research by practitioners, policymakers and researchers. Descriptive studies can be conducted as stand-alone studies or as part of larger, mixed-methods studies.

• Bradshaw C, Atkinson S, Doody O. Employing a qualitative description approach in health care research. Glob Qual Nurs Res. 2017;4. doi:10.1177/2333393617742282
• Lambert VA, Lambert CE. Qualitative descriptive research: an acceptable design. Pac Rim Int J Nurs Res Thail. 2012;16(4):255-256. Accessed June 6, 2023. https://he02.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/PRIJNR/article/download/5805/5064
• Doyle L et al. An overview of the qualitative descriptive design within nursing research. J Res Nurs. 2020;25(5):443-455. doi:10.1177/174498711988023
• Kim H, Sefcik JS, Bradway C. Characteristics of qualitative descriptive studies: a systematic review. Res Nurs Health. 2017;40(1):23-42. doi:10.1002/nur.21768
• Ayton DR et al. Exploring patient-reported outcomes following percutaneous coronary intervention: a qualitative study. Health Expect. 2018;21(2):457-465. doi:10.1111/hex.1263
• Barker AL et al. Symptoms and feelings valued by patients after a percutaneous coronary intervention: a discrete-choice experiment to inform development of a new patient-reported outcome. BMJ Open. 2018;8:e023141. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2018-023141
• Soh SE et al. What matters most to patients following percutaneous coronary interventions? a new patient-reported outcome measure developed using Rasch analysis. PLoS One. 2019;14(9):e0222185. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0222185
• Hiller RM et al. Coping and support-seeking in out-of-home care: a qualitative study of the views of young people in care in England. BMJ Open. 2021;11:e038461. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2020-038461
• Backman C, Cho-Young D. Engaging patients and informal caregivers to improve safety and facilitate person- and family-centered care during transitions from hospital to home – a qualitative descriptive study. Patient Prefer Adherence. 2019;13:617-626. doi:10.2147/PPA.S201054

Qualitative Research – a practical guide for health and social care researchers and practitioners Copyright © 2023 by Darshini Ayton is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Writing the Research Methodology Section of Your Thesis

This article explains the meaning of research methodology and the purpose and importance of writing a research methodology section or chapter for your thesis paper. It discusses what to include and not include in a research methodology section, the different approaches to research methodology that can be used, and the steps involved in writing a robust research methodology section.

What is a thesis research methodology?

A thesis research methodology explains the type of research performed, justifies the methods that you chose   by linking back to the literature review , and describes the data collection and analysis procedures. It is included in your thesis after the Introduction section . Most importantly, this is the section where the readers of your study evaluate its validity and reliability.

What should the research methodology section in your thesis include?

• The aim of your thesis
• An outline of the research methods chosen (qualitative, quantitative, or mixed methods)
• Background and rationale for the methods chosen, explaining why one method was chosen over another
• Methods used for data collection and data analysis
• Materials and equipment used—keep this brief
• Difficulties encountered during data collection and analysis. It is expected that problems will occur during your research process. Use this as an opportunity to demonstrate your problem-solving abilities by explaining how you overcame all obstacles. This builds your readers’ confidence in your study findings.
• A brief evaluation of your research explaining whether your results were conclusive and whether your choice of methodology was effective in practice

What should not be included in the research methodology section of your thesis?

• Irrelevant details, for example, an extensive review of methodologies (this belongs in the literature review section) or information that does not contribute to the readers’ understanding of your chosen methods
• A description of basic procedures
• Excessive details about materials and equipment used. If an extremely long and detailed list is necessary, add it as an appendix

Types of methodological approaches

The choice of which methodological approach to use depends on your field of research and your thesis question. Your methodology should establish a clear relationship with your thesis question and must also be supported by your  literature review . Types of methodological approaches include quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods. 

Quantitative studies generate data in the form of numbers   to count, classify, measure, or identify relationships or patterns. Information may be collected by performing experiments and tests, conducting surveys, or using existing data. The data are analyzed using  statistical tests and presented as charts or graphs. Quantitative data are typically used in the Sciences domain.

For example, analyzing the effect of a change, such as alterations in electricity consumption by municipalities after installing LED streetlights.

The raw data will need to be prepared for statistical analysis by identifying variables and checking for missing data and outliers. Details of the statistical software program used (name of the package, version number, and supplier name and location) must also be mentioned.

Qualitative studies gather non-numerical data using, for example, observations, focus groups, and in-depth interviews.   Open-ended questions are often posed. This yields rich, detailed, and descriptive results. Qualitative studies are usually   subjective and are helpful for investigating social and cultural phenomena, which are difficult to quantify. Qualitative studies are typically used in the Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS) domain.

For example, determining customer perceptions on the extension of a range of baking utensils to include silicone muffin trays.

The raw data will need to be prepared for analysis by coding and categorizing ideas and themes to interpret the meaning behind the responses given.

Mixed methods use a combination of quantitative and qualitative approaches to present multiple findings about a single phenomenon. T his enables triangulation: verification of the data from two or more sources.

Data collection

Explain the rationale behind the sampling procedure you have chosen. This could involve probability sampling (a random sample from the study population) or non-probability sampling (does not use a random sample).

For quantitative studies, describe the sampling procedure and whether statistical tests were used to determine the  sample size .

Following our example of analyzing the changes in electricity consumption by municipalities after installing LED streetlights, you will need to determine which municipal areas will be sampled and how the information will be gathered (e.g., a physical survey of the streetlights or reviewing purchase orders).

For qualitative research, describe how the participants were chosen and how the data is going to be collected.

Following our example about determining customer perceptions on the extension of a range of baking utensils to include silicone muffin trays, you will need to decide the criteria for inclusion as a study participant (e.g., women aged 20–70 years, bakeries, and bakery supply shops) and how the information will be collected (e.g., interviews, focus groups, online or in-person questionnaires, or video recordings) .

Data analysis

For quantitative research, describe what tests you plan to perform and why you have chosen them. Popular data analysis methods in quantitative research include:

• Descriptive statistics (e.g., means, medians, modes)
• Inferential statistics (e.g., correlation, regression, structural equation modeling)

For qualitative research, describe how the data is going to be analyzed and justify your choice. Popular data analysis methods in qualitative research include:

• Qualitative content analysis
• Thematic analysis
• Discourse analysis
• Narrative analysis
• Grounded theory
• Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA)

Evaluate and justify your methodological choices

You need to convince the reader that you have made the correct methodological choices. Once again, this ties back to your thesis question and  literature review . Write using a persuasive tone, and use  rhetoric to convince the reader of the quality, reliability, and validity of your research.

Ethical considerations

• The young researcher should maintain objectivity at all times
• All participants have the right to privacy and anonymity
• Research participation must be voluntary
• All subjects have the right to withdraw from the research at any time
• Consent must be obtained from all participants before starting the research
• Confidentiality of data provided by individuals must be maintained
• Consider how the interpretation and reporting of the data will affect the participants

Tips for writing a robust thesis research methodology

• Determine what kind of knowledge you are trying to uncover. For example, subjective or objective, experimental or interpretive.
• A thorough literature review is the best starting point for choosing your methods.
• Ensure that there is continuity throughout the research process. The authenticity of your research depends upon the validity of the research data, the reliability of your data measurements, and the time taken to conduct the analysis.
• Choose a research method that is achievable. Consider the time and funds available, feasibility, ethics, and access and availability of equipment to measure the phenomenon or answer your thesis question correctly.
• If you are struggling with a concept, ask for help from your supervisor, academic staff members, or fellow students.

A thesis methodology justifies why you have chosen a specific approach to address your thesis question. It explains how you will collect the data and analyze it. Above all, it allows the readers of your study to evaluate its validity and reliability.

A thesis is the most crucial document that you will write during your academic studies. For professional thesis editing and thesis proofreading services, visit  Enago Thesis Editing for more information.

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Introduce your methodological approach , for example, quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods.

Explain why your chosen approach is relevant to the overall research design and how it links with your  thesis question.

Justify your chosen method and why it is more appropriate than others.

Provide background information on methods that may be unfamiliar to readers of your thesis.

Introduce the tools that you will use for data collection , and explain how you plan to use them (e.g., surveys, interviews, experiments, or existing data).

Explain how you will analyze your results. The type of analysis used depends on the methods you chose. For example, exploring theoretical perspectives to support your explanation of observed behaviors in a qualitative study or using statistical analyses in a quantitative study.

Mention any research limitations. All studies are expected to have limitations, such as the sample size, data collection method, or equipment. Discussing the limitations justifies your choice of methodology despite the risks. It also explains under which conditions the results should be interpreted and shows that you have taken a holistic approach to your study.

What is the difference between methodology and methods? +

Methodology  refers to the overall rationale and strategy of your thesis project. It involves studying the theories or principles behind the methods used in your field so that you can explain why you chose a particular method for your research approach.  Methods , on the other hand, refer to how the data were collected and analyzed (e.g., experiments, surveys, observations, interviews, and statistical tests).

What is the difference between reliability and validity? +

Reliability refers to whether a measurement is consistent (i.e., the results can be reproduced under the same conditions).  Validity refers to whether a measurement is accurate (i.e., the results represent what was supposed to be measured). For example, when investigating linguistic and cultural guidelines for administration of the Preschool Language Scales, Fifth Edition (PLS5) in Arab-American preschool children, the normative sample curves should show the same distribution as a monolingual population, which would indicate that the test is valid. The test would be considered reliable if the results obtained were consistent across different sampling sites.

What tense is used to write the methods section? +

The methods section is written in the past tense because it describes what was done.

What software programs are recommended for statistical analysis? +

Recommended programs include Statistical Analysis Software (SAS) ,  Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) ,  JMP ,  R software,  MATLAB , Microsoft Excel,  GraphPad Prism , and  Minitab .

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• Dissertation

How to Write a Thesis or Dissertation Introduction

Published on September 7, 2022 by Tegan George and Shona McCombes. Revised on November 21, 2023.

The introduction is the first section of your thesis or dissertation , appearing right after the table of contents . Your introduction draws your reader in, setting the stage for your research with a clear focus, purpose, and direction on a relevant topic .

Your introduction should include:

• Your topic, in context: what does your reader need to know to understand your thesis dissertation?
• Your focus and scope: what specific aspect of the topic will you address?
• The relevance of your research: how does your work fit into existing studies on your topic?
• Your questions and objectives: what does your research aim to find out, and how?
• An overview of your structure: what does each section contribute to the overall aim?

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Table of contents

How to start your introduction, topic and context, focus and scope, relevance and importance, questions and objectives, overview of the structure, thesis introduction example, introduction checklist, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about introductions.

Although your introduction kicks off your dissertation, it doesn’t have to be the first thing you write — in fact, it’s often one of the very last parts to be completed (just before your abstract ).

It’s a good idea to write a rough draft of your introduction as you begin your research, to help guide you. If you wrote a research proposal , consider using this as a template, as it contains many of the same elements. However, be sure to revise your introduction throughout the writing process, making sure it matches the content of your ensuing sections.

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Begin by introducing your dissertation topic and giving any necessary background information. It’s important to contextualize your research and generate interest. Aim to show why your topic is timely or important. You may want to mention a relevant news item, academic debate, or practical problem.

After a brief introduction to your general area of interest, narrow your focus and define the scope of your research.

You can narrow this down in many ways, such as by:

• Geographical area
• Time period
• Demographics or communities
• Themes or aspects of the topic

It’s essential to share your motivation for doing this research, as well as how it relates to existing work on your topic. Further, you should also mention what new insights you expect it will contribute.

Start by giving a brief overview of the current state of research. You should definitely cite the most relevant literature, but remember that you will conduct a more in-depth survey of relevant sources in the literature review section, so there’s no need to go too in-depth in the introduction.

Depending on your field, the importance of your research might focus on its practical application (e.g., in policy or management) or on advancing scholarly understanding of the topic (e.g., by developing theories or adding new empirical data). In many cases, it will do both.

Ultimately, your introduction should explain how your thesis or dissertation:

• Helps solve a practical or theoretical problem
• Addresses a gap in the literature
• Builds on existing research
• Proposes a new understanding of your topic

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Perhaps the most important part of your introduction is your questions and objectives, as it sets up the expectations for the rest of your thesis or dissertation. How you formulate your research questions and research objectives will depend on your discipline, topic, and focus, but you should always clearly state the central aim of your research.

If your research aims to test hypotheses , you can formulate them here. Your introduction is also a good place for a conceptual framework that suggests relationships between variables .

• Conduct surveys to collect data on students’ levels of knowledge, understanding, and positive/negative perceptions of government policy.
• Determine whether attitudes to climate policy are associated with variables such as age, gender, region, and social class.
• Conduct interviews to gain qualitative insights into students’ perspectives and actions in relation to climate policy.

To help guide your reader, end your introduction with an outline  of the structure of the thesis or dissertation to follow. Share a brief summary of each chapter, clearly showing how each contributes to your central aims. However, be careful to keep this overview concise: 1-2 sentences should be enough.

I. Introduction

Human language consists of a set of vowels and consonants which are combined to form words. During the speech production process, thoughts are converted into spoken utterances to convey a message. The appropriate words and their meanings are selected in the mental lexicon (Dell & Burger, 1997). This pre-verbal message is then grammatically coded, during which a syntactic representation of the utterance is built.

Speech, language, and voice disorders affect the vocal cords, nerves, muscles, and brain structures, which result in a distorted language reception or speech production (Sataloff & Hawkshaw, 2014). The symptoms vary from adding superfluous words and taking pauses to hoarseness of the voice, depending on the type of disorder (Dodd, 2005). However, distortions of the speech may also occur as a result of a disease that seems unrelated to speech, such as multiple sclerosis or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

This study aims to determine which acoustic parameters are suitable for the automatic detection of exacerbations in patients suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) by investigating which aspects of speech differ between COPD patients and healthy speakers and which aspects differ between COPD patients in exacerbation and stable COPD patients.

Checklist: Introduction

I have introduced my research topic in an engaging way.

I have provided necessary context to help the reader understand my topic.

I have clearly specified the focus of my research.

I have shown the relevance and importance of the dissertation topic .

I have clearly stated the problem or question that my research addresses.

I have outlined the specific objectives of the research .

I have provided an overview of the dissertation’s structure .

You've written a strong introduction for your thesis or dissertation. Use the other checklists to continue improving your dissertation.

If you want to know more about AI for academic writing, AI tools, or research bias, make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples or go directly to our tools!

Research bias

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The introduction of a research paper includes several key elements:

• A hook to catch the reader’s interest
• Relevant background on the topic
• Details of your research problem

and your problem statement

• A thesis statement or research question
• Sometimes an overview of the paper

Don’t feel that you have to write the introduction first. The introduction is often one of the last parts of the research paper you’ll write, along with the conclusion.

This is because it can be easier to introduce your paper once you’ve already written the body ; you may not have the clearest idea of your arguments until you’ve written them, and things can change during the writing process .

Research objectives describe what you intend your research project to accomplish.

They summarize the approach and purpose of the project and help to focus your research.

Your objectives should appear in the introduction of your research paper , at the end of your problem statement .

Scope of research is determined at the beginning of your research process , prior to the data collection stage. Sometimes called “scope of study,” your scope delineates what will and will not be covered in your project. It helps you focus your work and your time, ensuring that you’ll be able to achieve your goals and outcomes.

Defining a scope can be very useful in any research project, from a research proposal to a thesis or dissertation . A scope is needed for all types of research: quantitative , qualitative , and mixed methods .

To define your scope of research, consider the following:

• Budget constraints or any specifics of grant funding
• Your proposed timeline and duration
• Specifics about your population of study, your proposed sample size , and the research methodology you’ll pursue
• Any inclusion and exclusion criteria
• Any anticipated control , extraneous , or confounding variables that could bias your research if not accounted for properly.

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Undergraduate Nursing Students’ Experiences of Conducting Clinical Research Projects in Their Bachelor Theses – a Qualitative Study

Kjersti grønning.

1 Department of Public Health and Nursing, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 7491 Trondheim, Norway

2 Department of Research, Nord-Trøndelag Hospital Trust, Postboks 333, 7601 Levanger, Norway

Guro Karlsholm

Beate andré, introduction.

The aim of educational institutions in the field of nursing is to educate nurses with the competences to provide high-quality care to their patients, meaning that students need to learn about evidence-based practice and how to translate the knowledge, skills, competency, beliefs, attitudes, and behaviours into daily practice. The bachelor thesis is the ultimate test for undergraduate nursing students to present what they have learned.

The aim of this study was to explore undergraduate nursing students’ experiences of conducting clinical projects in their bachelor theses.

We used qualitative focus-group interviews to gain a deeper understanding of the students’ experiences of conducting clinical projects in their bachelor theses as an approach to learn about evidence-based practice. The analyses focused on meaning according to Brinkmann and Kvale.

Eighteen out of 22 eligible students who had chosen to participate in ongoing clinical research projects and write an academic paper as their bachelor thesis were included in this study. The students were all females and divided into three focus groups. The clinical projects were conducted in a public hospital, a private hospital, nursing homes, or within home-care nursing. The analyses showed that conducting clinical projects in the bachelor thesis provided the students with important knowledge for providing evidence-based care and it. motivated them to want to initiate future clinical projects as nurses., They got valuable hands-on experience for how to conduct research, and made the students aware of the importance of keeping themselves updated on the latest knowledge.

Conducting clinical research projects on a bachelor level provide undergraduate nursing students with important knowledge of how to provide evidence-based nursing care to their patients. Learning how to conduct clinical research projects is also important for motivating future nurses to initiate research aiming to improve clinical nursing practice.

One essential task for educational institutions in the field of nursing is to provide a curriculum that educates nurses with the competence to meet real-world demands, where a more structured and holistic way of teaching and assessing evidence-based practice (EBP) ( Kumah et al., 2021 ) and creating a culture that uses evidence to update clinical practice is needed ( Kalb et al., 2015 ). EBP is defined as “ conscientious, explicit, and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients….integrating the best available external clinical evidence from systematic research” ( Sackett et al., 1996 ). Undergraduate nursing students must learn to translate knowledge, skills, competency, beliefs, attitudes, and behaviours into daily practice and improve clinical outcomes ( Patelarou et al., 2020 ).

The Sicily Statement puts forward a five-step model on how to teach and conduct EBP: (I) ask a clinical question; (II) collect the most relevant evidence; (III) critically appraise the evidence; (IV) integrate the evidence with one's clinical expertise, patient preferences, and values to make a practice decision; and (V) evaluate the change or outcome ( Burns & Foley, 2005 ). There are a range of teaching strategies about EBP in undergraduate nursing education that make the students more confident in accurately interpreting the literature and research ( Horntvedt et al., 2018 ; Wakibi et al., 2021 ). Teaching students about evidence-based nursing is important for the students’ learning process of becoming good critical thinkers and learning the skills of processing problems, recognizing assumptions, and deducing, interpreting, and evaluating arguments ( Cui et al., 2018 ). Various educational interventions are shown to be effective in providing nurses with sufficient competences to apply EBP in clinical practice ( Häggman-Laitila et al., 2016 ), develop a better assessment of the reliability/validity of information, and become more comfortable with the concepts of EBP ( Kyriakoulis et al., 2016 ). Research courses and workshops are the most frequently used teaching methods ( Larsen et al., 2019 ). Nevertheless, since approaches that engage students in clinical EBP projects are reducing the barriers of EBP, educational institutions must look at nursing curriculum models that support the integration of EBP competencies beyond the classroom ( Fiset et al., 2017 ). Collaboration with clinical practice is an effective way to teach EBP ( Horntvedt et al., 2018 ), where all nurses, including the staff in clinical settings, have a role to play in the students’ learning of EBP ( Wakibi et al., 2021 ).

The curricula for nursing undergrad students must include learning goals for attitudes, knowledge, skills, and practice, with a special focus on the implementation and use of new evidence to improve patient care. Effective learning of EBP for undergraduate students is complex, and cognitive and behavioural components are necessary for success ( Ramis et al., 2019 ). In current nursing education in Norway, undergraduate students learn about the research process, but not in relation to EBP or clinical practice ( André et al., 2016 ; Hole et al., 2016 ). EBP has the potential to change clinical practice and increase care quality by making the nursing care process more individually tailored to patients’ situations ( Yost et al., 2015 ). The Institute of Medicine's Quality Chasm series suggests that EBP is one of five core competencies for professional healthcare curricula ( Ubbink et al., 2013 ). Evidence and knowledge in nursing develop from several sources, and different kinds of knowledge are necessary to meet the wide range of ill and needy persons ( Martinsen & Eriksson, 2009 ).

One way to expand EBP in education and integrate scientific thinking in clinical practice is to use clinical practice as an arena for undergraduate nursing students to seek research knowledge for solving specific clinical problems ( Moch et al., 2015 ). Furthermore, to apply critical analytical assessment of research-based knowledge in clinical situations, students need exercise in how to use such knowledge, e.g., by participating in ongoing clinical research projects under supervision ( André et al., 2016 ).

The writing of a bachelor thesis plays a central role within higher education and can be described as the ultimate test for undergraduate students in nursing. Students learn alternative ways of thinking through the process of working on a bachelor thesis (Halabi & Hamdan-Mansour, 2012). Student knowledge about important issues regarding nursing care both increases and deepens by writing a bachelor thesis ( Lundgren & Halvarsson, 2009 ). Students have also stated that by working on their bachelor thesis they expected to gain valuable knowledge needed for their professional practice in the health care services ( Henttonen et al., 2021 ). Working on a bachelor thesis is a complex process and includes learning activities that consist of more than just reading the literature and attending lectures and seminars ( Lundgren & Halvarsson, 2009 ; Mattila et al., 2005 ; Mattsson, 2016 ). It provides the students with an opportunity to independently work on a complex assignment, formulate a topic, select relevant literature, and process the data ( André et al., 2016 ; Roca et al., 2018 ). A pilot-study found that students who conducted clinical projects as part of their bachelor thesis reported that their participation influenced their attitudes towards EBP ( André et al., 2016 ). The students experienced an increased understanding of the importance of critical thinking and realized how important it was to use research to solve problems and increase knowledge related to phenomena in nursing practice ( André et al., 2016 ).

Targeted qualitative research is needed to explore how to teach evidence-based practice in nursing education ( Horntvedt et al., 2018 ). Hence, the aim of this study is to explore undergraduate nursing students’ experiences of conducting clinical projects in their bachelor theses.

The setting for this qualitative focus-group study was the Faculty of Medicine, Department of Public Health and Nursing at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). Around 250 undergraduate nursing students are educated at NTNU each year. The programme is a full-time course with a total of 180 ECTS credits over three years (six semesters) and is equally divided between theoretical and clinical studies. The programme leads to a Bachelor in Nursing degree that qualifies for authorisation as a registered nurse in Norway. All students write their bachelor thesis as a final exam (15 ECTS). The students can choose between conducting a literature review as the basis for their bachelor thesis or participate in ongoing clinical research projects and write an academic paper ( NTNU, 2019 ). Information on the pedagogical scheme for 1) conducting a literature review, or 2) participating in ongoing clinical research projects are presented in the introductory lecture to the course and on the students’ digital learning platform. The students apply for clinical research projects and indicate which projects they prefer to participate in, and by the end of the fifth semester the students are assigned to a project. All students must formulate a research question, attend theoretical lectures and bachelor seminars, and have mandatory individual supervision.

An invitation e-mail was sent to all the students (N  =  22) assigned to the pedagogical scheme of participating in ongoing clinical research projects while writing their bachelor thesis. The e-mail was sent at the beginning of the sixth semester and included information about the purpose of the study, topics for the focus-group interview, and the time and place for the interviews.

Data Collection

The first and last authors conducted three qualitative focus-group interviews ( Brinkmann & Kvale, 2015 ). A thematic interview guide ( Table 1 ) with open-ended main questions, followed by probing sub-questions (e.g., ‘could you give an example of’, ‘is there anything else you would like to add’) was used. The interviews lasted approximately 45 min and were carried out in connection with lectures. All interviews were digitally recorded and transcribed verbatim by a professional transcriber service.

Table 1.

Interview Guide.

Data Analysis

The analyses focused on meaning as described in Brinkmann and Kvale ( Brinkmann & Kvale, 2015 ) to explore how undergraduate nursing students experienced conducting clinical projects in their bachelor theses. The first author inductively read and coded all interviews. The research team had several physical and digital meetings to discuss the content and labels of the codes, during which different interpretations were developed until consensus of interpretation was reached. The final analytical themes were agreed upon by comparing (finding similarities) and contrasting (searching for negative cases) codes. NVivo 11.0 (QSR, 2007), a data management program, was used as a tool to systematise and code the transcriptions.

Ethical Considerations

Participation in the study was voluntary. All students received oral and written information about the purpose of the study and gave written consent to participate. The Norwegian Centre for Research Data approved the study.

Out of 22 eligible nursing students (21 females and 1 male), 18 responded to the invitation. The students (ages ranging from 22–45 years old) were divided into three focus groups. All interviewed students were females, and each focus group consisted of six students. The students participated in nine different clinical projects in a public hospital, private hospital, nursing home, or through home-care nursing, and the topics were developed in collaboration between the university and clinical practice. The topics for the project were all related to clinical nursing practice in medical, surgical, or palliative units in the hospital, or in nursing homes and home care.

The analyses showed that by conducting clinical projects in their bachelor thesis the students gained important knowledge for providing evidence-based care. This was also motivating for initiating clinical projects in the future and gave valuable hands-on experience for how to carry out research; students also became aware of the importance of keeping themselves updated on the latest knowledge. Through the process of conducting clinical projects the students also reflected on nursing and clinical practice, what constitutes evidence and truth, and that role models and unit culture have a big impact when someone suggests change. An overview of the final themes and subthemes are illustrated in Table 2 .

Table 2.

Final Themes and Sub-Themes.

The analyses also showed that the students chose to conduct clinical projects in their bachelor theses because they wanted to try something different, or they had a special interest in the topics that were offered. Some students had been advised by former students to choose this alternative for their bachelor thesis, while others said they chose clinical projects because they had positive experiences with clinical placements at the units offering the projects. The results are further elaborated with quotes from the students (focus group number and informant) below.

Important Knowledge for Providing Evidence-Based Care

The students experienced their clinical projects as important for improving clinical practice. Conducting clinical projects motivated and gave the students valuable hands-on practice for how to initiate clinical projects in the future. The process of conducting clinical projects also gave the students important insights into EBP in practice, as well as in the importance of professional updating.

Their research questions were created based on a topic the clinical units wanted explored. They said the hands-on experience of conducting their own studies and carrying out the research process, step-by-step, was useful knowledge for them in their future work-life as registered nurses. The hands-on experience of doing research, sharing their results with fellow students and nurses, and getting constructive feedback were exciting and made them proud. The students said it was fun and stimulating to dig deeper into an area of particular interest. By having their own project, the students gained special ownership of their topic, data, and final bachelor thesis. By getting hands-on practice on how to collect data, the students also thought it would be easier to conduct new projects in the future.

“You learn a lot by conducting your own data collection. You get new ideas for doing more research, or participate in clinical projects when you start to work as a nurse.” (Informant E, group 1)

“For me, it was important to collect my own data; it was easier to implement the theory into clinical practice because you had done it yourself.” (Informant B, group 2)

The students further explained that conducting clinical projects could be a good way to learn about evidence-based nursing. Some students said they contributed to EBP by conducting clinical projects. When asked if they had heard and/or learned about the concept of evidence-based practice earlier in their education, they remembered another theoretical course that focused on it and that a previous exam had questions about evidence-based nursing. When the students were asked how they understood the concept of evidence-based nursing, two expressed it like this:

“ I think evidence-based nursing is about, for instance, adapting a procedure to how the patient wants it done, or in changing the mattress (even though you know that this is the best type), if the patient tells you that he can’t sleep on a that mattress.” (Informant A, group 3)

“ I think it is about using research and experiences….and I guess…. it was something about the patient's…user involvement. That it is important to offer the best care.” (Informant A, group 2)

The students further said that by doing clinical projects and producing valuable knowledge for clinical practice, they had become extra aware of the importance of keeping themselves updated while working as registered nurses. They also realised that professional updating on a busy clinical day with a heavy workload could be challenging. Some were a bit concerned they would not have enough time to keep up with recent research when they started to work as nurses. When discussing how to keep up with recent research, the students had different experiences from clinical practice on how the hospital units, nursing homes, and home care nursing staff prioritised professional updating and innovation. All students could tell they had taken part in different kinds of professional meetings or internal educational programs during their clinical practice. One student stated that her clinical supervisors had encouraged her to read all kinds of literature and procedures to stay updated on recent knowledge that was relevant for providing high quality care to the patients in that unit. Others experienced that the nurses from another unit were not updated on the latest procedures, particularly on how to heal wounds. Their good and bad experiences regarding how to stay updated on recent knowledge made the students reflect on the importance of having routines for professional updating. Two students expressed it like this:

“ In psychiatry there was a lot of internal teaching about communication and such, much more than in the somatic hospital, almost every day.” (Informant A, group 2)

“ If your colleagues at work are like “no   …”, then it is hard to carry on by yourself…. You have to collaborate and work in teams to stay professionally updated.” (Informant D, group 2)

Critical Reflection About Nursing and Clinical Practice

During the process of conducting their clinical projects the students reflected on what is really evidence and truth. They observed nurses who were good role models, and cultures that were supportive when someone initiated changes based on new knowledge. While preparing their projects, collecting data, and analysing data, the students became conscious about not taking reproduced theory for granted. They questioned why the theory existed, the message of the theory, and the theory's relevance in the setting. They also reflected on their position as students, and that they brought the newest theory or knowledge about nursing into clinical nursing practice. Some students also said that when they were reading scientific papers, they started to question the research questions in the article, the validity of the data, how the data was collected, who collected the data, and in which settings the data were collected.

“We have been told to be critical, but now I really understand how to be critical, not only with the results but also with the preparations in the study.” (Informant B, group 1)

The students further said they had become conscious about how difficult it was to formulate research questions, and anxious about whether or not their questionnaire was sufficient to capture the phenomena they wanted to study. By analysing data, the students said they became critical of their own results and if the results were just a coincidence or “true”. This learning experience opened a new perspective of how to move forward with their results and how their results could contribute to areas for improvement. The students found it interesting that their in-depth investigation of a chosen phenomenon created new knowledge that could initiate changes and improve clinical practice. Two of the students described it like this:

“We are able to contribute to changes as a result of our project, and it will influence our work as future nurses.” (Informant C, group 3)

“We have actually contributed to possible changes and others have become interested in our project.” (Informant A, group 1)

When discussing areas for improvement, several students experienced that some nurses were sceptical of changes and preferred that things remained as they were. Those who had experienced “old-fashioned” nurses were clear that they wanted to be different as nurses. The students stated they experienced how the culture in different clinical units influenced how easy or difficult it was to implement new knowledge.

“ It is easy when you start working to quickly adopt the culture at the workplace. You may have learned one thing at school, but everyone at the clinic does it a different way. Perhaps it is easier said than done.” (Informant B, group 2)

The students also talked about the challenging experience of searching for research to use in their thesis. When asked if they had observed nursing research during their clinical studies, almost all students said that research was not discussed. During the process of searching for research papers and conducting their own studies, the students thought there was too little research on nursing and nursing interventions. Most of the projects they had heard about during their clinical placements were conducted by medical doctors, and the nurses only participated as assistants or study nurses. This discovery made the students question why it was like this. Some students argued that the reason was partly because the nurses did not have time to do research, or that clinical nurses traditionally did not conduct their own research. Others said that research was not prioritized among nurses, or that nurses did not have the same opportunities or traditions as medical doctors.

“The university hospital has a lot of resources, many professors and chief physicians who have funds for research.” (Informant C, group 2)

“It is much more common for doctors to have projects than nurses.” (Informant A, group 2)

“Research is also a part of studying to become a nurse. There are some who actually study nursing because they want to do research. All nurses are not expected to work clinically with patients and carry out procedures and such. Therefore, there must be a greater understanding among nursing teachers about that.” (Informant C, group 3)

One student explained that she had a clinical supervisor who was a co-worker in an ongoing clinical research project. This nurse had reserved time to participate in the project. The students further discussed that they had become more aware of the importance of research and developing new knowledge about nursing while they conducted their own projects. They were also very proud of their projects because the units valued their results. Several experienced the clinical nurses as curious and enthusiastic about the results’ influence on clinical nursing practice, while others experienced the nurses as sceptical towards their projects. Some students stated they received positive feedback from patients when they collected data on nurses’ hand hygiene in their project. Even though the students were proud of producing results, some discovered the results were not “good news” about clinical practice. They were a bit concerned about presenting the results in the clinic but were confident that the findings were important for improving nursing practice. One student expressed it like this:

“This project can actually affect the unit, a change can happen as a result from this thesis, and it will impact us as nurses.” (Informant C, group 3)

The students also reflected on what sort of competence they gained from doing their own clinical projects, even though their research projects were on a bachelor level. They expressed that collaborating with other students was very valuable for collecting and analysing data, and interpretating the findings. Another important collaborator was the clinical field, and the unit, nursing home, or home care nursing facilitated data-collection.

This study shows that undergraduate nursing students gained important knowledge about EBP while conducting clinical projects as part of their bachelor theses. The students learned how the research process is carried out in practice, which is shown to be essential for understanding how evidence-based knowledge is developed and is fundamental for the quality of provided nursing care ( Patelarou et al., 2020 ; Ryan, 2016 ). Incorporation of EBP into the curriculum for undergraduate nursing students is therefore important, and it is important to start training in EBP at the undergraduate level ( Patelarou et al., 2020 ).

Clinical Projects in the Bachelor Thesis – A New Approach to Learn About EBP

In this study the results showed that conducting clinical projects as part of the undergraduate nursing students’ work with their bachelor theses is one pedagogical way for students to learn about EBP, and to translate their knowledge, skills, competency, beliefs, attitudes, and behaviours into daily practice ( Patelarou et al., 2020 ). This study also found that the students’ engagements in their research projects positively affected the clinical units’ research culture, emphasising the importance of including evidence in clinical nursing practice ( Kalb et al., 2015 ). Despite knowing that teaching EBP to undergraduate nursing students is important ( Ryan, 2016 ), it is shown that some faculty personnel at universities are not familiar with EBP or the need to use evidence in their teaching ( Kalb et al., 2015 ). Our findings indicate that knowledge and understanding of research in nursing education among nursing teachers must be addressed. The students in this study stated that some undergraduate nursing students study nursing because they want to become researchers later on, which is something the teachers need to keep in mind when teaching and supervising students.

Collaboration with clinical practice is shown to be a good strategy for teaching students about EBP ( Larsen et al., 2019 ); for instance, by letting students conduct clinical projects as part of their bachelor theses, as this study shows. Our findings illustrate that this approach is one way for students to learn how the knowledge base for EBP is created and expanded. Larsen and co-workers ( Larsen et al., 2019 ) also point out that both the combination of classrooms and clinical practice settings, and in clinical practice settings alone, are effective ways to learn EBP. However, increased collaboration with clinical practice needs to be strengthened since EBP teaching strategies including clinical activities in nursing students are less prioritised ( Horntvedt et al., 2018 ). Furthermore, EBP teaching methods are found to be successful learning approaches for becoming good critical thinkers ( Cui et al., 2018 ). EBP teaching methods teach students how to process problems and recognize the assumption, deduction, interpretation, and evaluation of arguments ( Cui et al., 2018 ). The pedagogical teaching strategy in this study requires that the students formulate a research question, collect data, analyse data, and interpret the findings in relation to the existing literature. Their clinical experiences go behind the range of pedagogical strategies that only teach undergraduate nursing students how to interpret the literature in order to provide patients with evidence-based care ( Cui et al., 2018 ; Horntvedt et al., 2018 ; Häggman-Laitila et al., 2016 ; Wakibi et al., 2021 ). Conducting research on a bachelor level represents a different approach to engaging students in learning about EBP that supports the integration of EBP competencies beyond the classroom ( Fiset et al., 2017 ; Horntvedt et al., 2018 ). Our findings provide knowledge about a successful pedagogical approach for how to teach undergrade students about EBP that contains of more than participating in research courses and workshops ( Larsen et al., 2019 ). Our pedagogical approach also includes carrying out research on a bachelor level. Undergraduate nursing students who conduct research on a bachelor level learn EBP in a context where both nurse educators and clinical staff play a key role in students’ learning of EBP ( Wakibi et al., 2021 ).

Furthermore, this study shows that the students got important hands-on experience for how to carry out clinical research by doing small projects as part of their bachelor theses. This was a valuable experience that made the students more aware of their responsibility of keeping themselves updated on the latest knowledge as nurses. This awareness confirms the findings from other studies ( Cui et al., 2018 ; Halabi & Hamdan-Mansour, 2012), showing that students learn alternative ways of thinking through the process of working with their bachelor theses and gain an increased and deepened knowledge about nursing care ( Henttonen et al., 2021 ; Lundgren & Halvarsson, 2009 ).

Our study also found that the students reflected on what ‘evidence’ is through the process of conducting clinical projects, which confirms findings from other studies ( André et al., 2016 ; Roca et al., 2018 ) that highlight the importance of providing students with an opportunity to independently work on complex assignments that go beyond searching for relevant literature and attending lectures ( Lundgren & Halvarsson, 2009 ; Mattila et al., 2005 ; Mattsson, 2016 ).

In this study the results also showed that by working on clinical projects for a bachelor thesis, the students became conscious about the importance of initiating changes if clinical nursing practice was not based on the newest recommendations or guidelines. Other studies have found that to increase the quality of nursing it is important for undergraduate nursing students to expand the use of EBP in clinical practice ( André et al., 2016 ; Florin et al., 2012 ). The students must learn how to evaluate research findings, reflect on current practice, and incorporate EBP knowledge into clinical practice in order to continue such activities as registered nurses. If undergraduate nursing students incorporate a positive attitude towards nursing research during their education, they will likely appreciate the value of research in their clinical practice as nurses ( Moch et al., 2015 ).

The results of this study showed that the students learned that the clinical units had different cultures concerning research, which may be due to lack of education or training on how to improve EBP ( Cullen et al., 2011 ; Moch et al., 2015 ). One way to prevent barriers toward EBP is to establish partnerships and collaborate in clinical projects that aim to improve nursing practice. Adopting evidence-based practices within complex health care organizations is challenging, and educators have a responsibility to increase emphasis on skills that nurses need to possess to oversee evidence-based practice initiatives ( Cullen et al., 2011 ). However, more research is needed to assess effective ways of teaching EBP to both nursing students ( Patelarou et al., 2020 ) and nurses.

Strengths and Limitations

One of the strengths in this study is the chosen methodology used to gain in-depth knowledge about the students’ experiences of conducting clinical projects in their bachelor theses. By conducting qualitative focus-group interviews ( Brinkmann & Kvale, 2015 ) and asking open-ended questions, the students were invited to discuss their experiences with the other students and illustrate their experiences with examples. The focus-group discussions generated an understanding inside the theme as experienced by the students. Using a semi-structured method, the interviews offered space for the students to deepen their viewpoints and provide data on how they experienced conducting clinical projects. Another strength is the composition of the focus groups: some students knew each other well because they collaborated when they conducted their projects, while other students were less known to each other. The students’ familiarity with each other might have contributed to a more relaxed and free-speaking session. Another strength is that the analysis and writing of the paper were conducted by a group of researchers. This helped ensure the reliability of the findings. Dependability and confirmability are major elements in identifying the implications of this study, and much work was committed to exploring these topics ( Miles et al., 2020 ). Interpretations of the data were frequently discussed among the authors to confirm the dependability of the results. There are also s few limitations in this study. One limitation is that no male students participated in the focus-group interviews. Another limitation is the small sample size. These limitations may weaken the transferability of the findings to other settings and to other undergraduate nursing students.

Implications for Clinical Practice

The students conducted their projects in collaboration with nurses in different units in the hospital, nursing homes, or in home care nursing. The topics varied a great deal - from nurses’ roles in relation to patient safety, proper drug use, e-health consultations, hygiene, the use of surgical check-lists, and occupational health, to seniors’ perspectives of using apps for preventing loneliness among older adults. The variations in themes and settings for the projects show that the findings have implications for clinical practice in both specialised (hospitals) and primary health care (nursing homes and home-care nursing) since the nursing students gained knowledge on how to provide evidence-based nursing care across settings in the health care services.

This study shows that conducting clinical research projects on a bachelor level provides undergraduate nursing students with important knowledge on how to provide evidence-based nursing care. The projects provide the students with valuable hands-on experience on how to carry out research and makes them aware of the importance of keeping themselves updated on the latest knowledge. Conducting clinical research projects is also important in motivating the students, as future nurses, to initiate projects that aim to improve clinical nursing practice and to reflect on actual evidence and truth in different settings.

Acknowledgments

The researchers thank the students that used their time and participated in this study.

Authors’ Contribution: KG and BA collaborated with the study design and data collection. All three authors KG, GK, and BA collaborated in conducting the analyses, the interpretation of data, manuscript preparation, and approved the final version of the manuscript.

Data Availability Statement: All data supporting the findings in this article is contained within the manuscript.

Declaration of Conflicting Interests: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding: The Liaison Committee between the Central Norway Regional Health Authority (RHA) and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) supported this study.

Ethical Approval: Participation in the study was voluntary. All students received oral and written information about the purpose of the study and gave a written consent to participate. The Norwegian Centre for Research Data approved the study (ref. no. 58522).

ORCID iD: Kjersti Grønning https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4256-6339

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This collection includes theses, dissertations, and professional papers from the University of Montana Department of Communication Studies. Theses, dissertations, and professional papers from all University of Montana departments and programs may be searched here.

Theses/Dissertations from 2023 2023

COMEDY, CAMARADERIE, AND CONFLICT: USING HUMOR TO DEFUSE DISPUTES AMONG FRIENDS , Sheena A. Bringa

Navigating Toxic Identities Within League of Legends , Jeremy Thomas Miner

Theses/Dissertations from 2022 2022

UNDERSTANDING MEDIA RICHNESS AND SOCIAL PRESENCE: EXPLORING THE IMPACTS OF MEDIA CHANNELS ON INDIVIDUALS’ LEVELS OF LONELINESS, WELL-BEING, AND BELONGING , Ashley M. Arsenault

CANCELING VS. #CANCEL CULTURE: AN ANALYSIS ON THE SURVEILLANCE AND DISCIPLINE OF SOCIAL MEDIA BEHAVIOR THROUGH COMPETING DISCOURSES OF POWER , Julia G. Bezio

DISTAL SIBLING GRIEF: EXPLORING EMOTIONAL AFFECT AND SALIENCE OF LISTENER BEHAVIORS IN STORIES OF SIBLING DEATH , Margaret C. Brock

Is Loss a Laughing Matter?: A Study of Humor Reactions and Benign Violation Theory in the Context of Grief. , Miranda B. Henrich

The Request Is Not Compatible: Competing Frames of Public Lands Discourse in the Lolo Peak Ski Resort Controversy , Philip A. Sharp

Patient Expectations, Satisfaction, and Provider Communication Within the Oncology Experience , Elizabeth Margaret Sholey

Psychological Safety at Amazon: A CCO Approach , Kathryn K. Zyskowski

Theses/Dissertations from 2021 2021

Discourse of Renewal: A Qualitative Analysis of the University of Montana’s COVID-19 Crisis Communication , Haley Renae Gabel

Activating Hope: How Functional Support Can Improve Hope in Unemployed Individuals , Rylee P. Walter

Theses/Dissertations from 2020 2020

THE HOME AS A SITE OF FAMILY COMMUNICATED NARRATIVE SENSE-MAKING: GRIEF, MEANING, AND IDENTITY THROUGH “CLEANING OUT THE CLOSET” , Kendyl A. Barney

CRISIS AS A CONSTANT: UNDERSTANDING THE COMMUNICATIVE ENACTMENT OF COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE WITHIN THE EXTENSION DISASTER EDUCATION NETWORK (EDEN) , Danielle Maria Farley

FOSTERING COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE IN COMPREHENSIVE SEX EDUCATION: EVALUATION AND RECOMMENDATIONS ON THE FOUNDATIONS TRAINING , Shanay L. Healy

Belonging for Dementia Caregivers , Sabrina Singh

Theses/Dissertations from 2019 2019

Making the Most of People We Do Not Like: Capitalizing on Negative Feedback , Christopher Edward Anderson

Understanding the Relationship Between Discursive Resources and Risk-Taking Behaviors in Outdoor Adventure Athletes , Mira Ione Cleveland

Service Failure Management in High-End Hospitality Resorts , Hunter A. Dietrich

Fear, Power, & Teeth (2007) , Olivia Hockenbroch

The climate change sublime: Leveraging the immense awe of the planetary threat of climate change , Sean D. Quartz

Theses/Dissertations from 2018 2018

The Relationship Between Memorable Messages and Identity Construction , Raphaela P. Barros Campbell

Wonder Woman: A Case Study for Critical Media Literacy , Adriana N. Fehrs

Curated Chaos: A Rhetorical Study of Axmen , Rebekah A. McDonald

THE ROLE OF BIPOLAR DISORDER, STIGMA, AND HURTFUL MESSAGES IN ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIPS , Callie Parrish

Cruising to be a Board Gamer: Understanding Socialization Relating to Board Gaming and The Dice Tower , Benjamin Wassink

Theses/Dissertations from 2017 2017

STEAMED: EXAMINATIONS OF POWER STRUGGLES ON THE VALUE FORUM , richard E. babb

Beyond the Bike; Identity and Belonging of Free Cycles Members , Caitlyn Lewis

Adherence and Uncertainty Management: A Test Of The Theory Of Motivated Information Management , Ryan Thiel

Theses/Dissertations from 2016 2016

Redskins Revisited: Competing Constructions of the Washington Redskins Mascot , Eean Grimshaw

A Qualitative Analysis of Belonging in Communities of Practice: Exploring Transformative Organizational Elements within the Choral Arts , Aubrielle J. Holly

Training the Professoraite of Tomorrow: Implementing the Needs Centered Training Model to Instruct Graduate Teaching Assistants in the use of Teacher Immediacy , Leah R. Johnson

Beyond Blood: Examining the Communicative Challenges of Adoptive Families , Mackensie C. Minniear

Attitudes Toward Execution: The Tragic and Grotesque Framing of Capital Punishment in the News , Katherine Shuy

Knowledge and Resistance: Feminine Style and Signifyin[g] in Michelle Obama’s Public Address , Tracy Valgento

Theses/Dissertations from 2015 2015

BLENDED FRAMEWORK: BILL MCKIBBEN'S USE OF MELODRAMA AND COMEDY IN ENVIRONMENTAL RHETORIC , Megan E. Cullinan

THE INFLUENCE OF MEDICAL DRAMAS ON PATIENT EXPECTATIONS OF PHYSICIAN COMMUNICATION , Kayla M. Fadenrecht

Diabesties: How Diabetic Support on Campus can Alleviate Diabetic Burnout , Kassandra E. Martin

Resisting NSA Surveillance: Glenn Greenwald and the public sphere debate about privacy , Rebecca Rice

Rhetoric, participation, and democracy: The positioning of public hearings under the National Environmental Policy Act , Kevin C. Stone

Socialization and Volunteers: A Training Program for Volunteer Managers , Allison M. Sullivan

Theses/Dissertations from 2014 2014

THIRD PARTY EFFECTS OF AFFECTIONATE COMMUNICATION IN FAMILY SUBSYSTEMS: EXAMINING INFLUENCE ON AFFECTIONATE COMMUNICATION, MENTAL WELL-BEING, AND FAMILY SATISFACTION , Timothy M. Curran

Commodity or Dignity? Nurturing Managers' Courtesy Nurtures Workers' Productivity , Montana Rafferty Moss

"It Was My Job to Keep My Children Safe": Sandra Steingraber and the Parental Rhetoric of Precaution , Mollie Katherine Murphy

Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Free Markets: ALEC's Populist Constructions of "the People" in State Politics , Anne Sherwood

Theses/Dissertations from 2013 2013

COMMUNICATIVE CONSTRUCTION OF EXPECTATIONS: AN EXAMINATION OF EXPECTATIONS REGARDING MOTHERS IN NARRATIVE CONSTRUCTION , Jordan A. Allen

Let’s talk about sex: A training program for parents of 4th and 5th grade children , Elizabeth Kay Eickhoff

"You Is The Church": Identity and Identification in Church Leadership , Megan E. Gesler

This land is your land, this land is my land: A qualitative study of tensions in an environmental decision making group , Gabriel Patrick Grelle

The Constitution of Queer Identity in the 1972 APA Panel, "Psychiatry: Friend or Foe to Homosexuals? A Dialogue" , Dustin Vern Edward Schneider

The Effect of Religious Similarity on the Use of Relational Maintenance Strategies in Marriages , Jamie Karen Taylor

Justice, Equality, and SlutWalk: The Rhetoric of Protesting Rape Culture , Dana Whitney Underwood

Theses/Dissertations from 2012 2012

Collective Privacy Boundary Turbulence and Facework Strategies: A Cross-Cultural Comparison of South Korea and the United States , Min Kyong Cho

COMMUNICATING ARTIFACTS: AN ANALYSIS OF HOW MUSEUMS COMMUNICATE ORGANIZATIONAL IDENTITY DURING TIMES OF CONTROVERSY AND FINANCIAL STRAIN , Amanda Renee Cornuke

Communication Apprehension and Perceived Responsiveness , Elise Alexandra Fanney

Improving Patient-Provider Communication in the Health Care context , Charlotte M. Glidden

What They Consider, How They Decide: Best Practices of Technical Experts in Environmental Decision-Making , Cassandra J. Hemphill

Rebuilding Place: Exploring Strategies to Align Place Identity During Relocation , Brigette Renee McKamey

Sarah Palin, Conservative Feminism, and the Politics of Family , Jasmine Rose Zink

Theses/Dissertations from 2011 2011

Salud, Dignidad, Justicia: Articulating "Choice" and "Reproductive Justice" for Latinas in the United States , Kathleen Maire de Onis

Environmental Documentary Film: A Contemporary Tool For Social Movement , Rachel Gregg

In The Pink: The (Un)Healthy Complexion of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month , Kira Stacey Jones

Jihad as an Ideograph: Osama bin Laden's rhetorical weapon of choice , Faye Lingarajan

The Heart of the Matter: The Function and Relational Effects of Humor for Cardiovascular Patients , Nicholas Lee Lockwood

Feeling the Burn: A Discursive Analysis of Organizational Burnout in Seasonal Wildland Firefighters , Whitney Eleanor Marie Maphis

Making A Comeback: An Exploration of Nontraditional Students & Identity Support , Jessica Kate McFadden

In the Game of Love, Play by the Rules: Implications of Relationship Rule Consensus over Honesty and Deception in Romantic Relationships , Katlyn Elise Roggensack

Assessing the balance: Burkean frames and Lil' Bush , Elizabeth Anne Sills

Theses/Dissertations from 2010 2010

The Discipline of Identity: Examining the Challenges of Developing Interdisciplinary Identities Within the Science Disciplines , Nicholas Richard Burk

Occupational Therapists: A Study of Managing Multiple Identities , Katherine Elise Lloyd

Discourse, Identity, and Culture in Diverse Organizations: A Study of The Muslim Students Association (University of Montana) , Burhanuddin Bin Omar

The Skinny on Weight Watchers: A Critical Analysis of Weight Watcher's Use of Metaphors , Ashlynn Laura Reynolds-Dyk

You Got the Job, Now What?: An Evaluation of the New Employee Orientation Program at the University of Montana , Shiloh M. A. Sullivan

Theses/Dissertations from 2009 2009

Because We Have the Power to Choose: A Critical Analysis of the Rhetorical Strategies Used in Merck's Gardasil Campaign , Brittney Lee Buttweiler

Communicative Strategies Used in the Introduction of Spirituality in the Workplace , Matthew Alan Condon

Cultures in Residence: Intercultural Communication Competence for Residence Life Staff , Bridget Eileen Flaherty

The Influence of Sibling Support on Children's Post-Divorce Adjustment: A Turning Point Analysis , Kimberly Ann Jacobs

TALK ABOUT “HOOKING UP”: HOW COLLEGE STUDENTS‟ ACCOUNTS OF “HOOKING UP” IN SOCIAL NETWORKS INFLUENCES ENGAGING IN RISKY SEXUAL BEHAVIOR , Amanda J. Olson

The Effect of Imagined Interactions on Secret Revelation and Health , Adam Stephens Richards

Teaching Intercultural Communication Competence in the Healthcare Context , Jelena Stojakovic

Quitting versus Not Quitting: The Process and Development of an Assimilation Program Within Opportunity Resources, Inc. , Amanda N. Stovall

Theses/Dissertations from 2008 2008

IMAGES AS A LAYER OF POSITIVE RHETORIC: A VALUES-BASED CASE STUDY EXPLORING THE INTERACTION BETWEEN VISUAL AND VERBAL ELEMENTS FOUND ON A RURAL NATURAL RESOURCES NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION WEBSITE , Vailferree Stilwell Brechtel

Relational Transgressions in Romantic Relationships: How Individuals Negotiate the Revelation and Concealment of Transgression Information within the Social Network , Melissa A. Maier

Theses/Dissertations from 2007 2007

THE SOCIALIZATION OF SEASONAL EMPLOYEES , Maria Dawn Blevins

Friends the family you choose (no matter what: An investigation of fictive kin relationships amoung young adults. , Kimberly Anne Clinger

Public relations in nonprofit organizations: A guide to establishing public relations programs in nonprofit settings , Megan Kate Gale

Negotiated Forgiveness in Parent-Child Relationships: Investigating Links to Politeness, Wellness and Sickness , Jennifer Lynn Geist

Developing and Communicating Better Sexual Harassment Policies Through Ethics and Human Rights , Thain Yates Hagan

Managing Multiple Identities: A Qualitative Study of Nurses and Implications for Work-Family Balance , Claire Marie Spanier

BEYOND ORGANIC: DEFINING ALTERNATIVES TO USDA CERTIFIED ORGANIC , Jennifer Ann von Sehlen

Theses/Dissertations from 2006 2006

Graduate Teaching Assistant Interpretations and Responses to Student Immediacy Cues , Clair Owen Canfield

Verbal negotiation of affection in romantic relationships , Andrea Ann Richards

Theses/Dissertations from 2005 2005

Art of forgiveness , Carrie Benedict

"We shall fight for the things we have always held nearest our hearts": Rhetorical strategies in the U.S. woman suffrage movement , Stephanie L. Durnford

War on Terror Middle-East peace and a drive around the ranch: The rhetoric of US-Saudi diplomacy in the post-911 period , J. Robert Harper

What do you mean by competence?: A comparison of perceived communication competence among North Americans and Chinese , Chao He

Rhetoric of public interest in an inter-organizational environmental debate: The Fernie mining controversy. , Shelby Jo. Long

Investigation of the initiation of short-term relationships in a vacation setting. , Aneta Milojevic

"It 's the other way around"| Sustainability, promotion, and the shaping of identity in nonprofit arts organizations , Georgi A. Rausch

Child left behind: An examination of comforting strategies goals and outcomes following the death of a child , Kelly R. Rossetto

Profile of the modern smokejumper| A tension-centered lens on identity and identification , Cade Wesley Spaulding

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