Mind maps: establishing 'trustworthiness' in qualitative research

Area of Science:

• Qualitative research methodology
• Theoretical framework development
• Participant verification

Background:

• Parental experiences with children with disabilities or complex health needs are rich and complex.
• Existing data analysis methods may not fully capture the nuances of these experiences.
• Participant verification is crucial for ensuring the validity of qualitative research findings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the utility of mind maps for participant verification of an emerging theoretical framework.
• To assess the effectiveness of mind maps in representing and validating complex qualitative data.
• To investigate parental confirmation or challenge of researcher interpretations of their caregiving experiences.

Main Methods:

• Exploratory interviews were conducted with parents of children with disabilities, life-limiting illnesses, or technology dependence.
• A random sample of participants reviewed mind maps representing themes, categories, and sub-categories from the interview data.
• Participants were asked to confirm or challenge the accuracy of the mind maps in reflecting their experiences.

Main Results:

• Major consistencies were found in the experiences of parents across the three study sub-groups.
• Mind maps served as an effective tool for presenting complex datasets to participants for verification.
• The study demonstrated a novel approach to using mind maps for validating qualitative data.

Conclusions:

• Mind maps are a valuable tool for analyzing complex datasets and offer a novel method for participant verification of theoretical frameworks.
• This approach enhances the validity of qualitative research by directly involving participants in interpreting their own experiences.
• Further research is needed to test the application of mind maps for participant verification in qualitative data analysis.