Investigating stresses in general practice using an open-ended approach in interviews

This paper describes a preliminary study which investigated the stresses of 30 general practitioners in London. The methodology used was an unstructured interview technique known as 'emic'. This aimed to obtain the doctors' own perceptions of their stresses. The accounts were therefore 'free-flowing'. The links between this 'open-ended' methodology and the findings are discussed. In this kind of approach stresses are uncovered--produced by the subject--which would otherwise not be revealed to the investigator. Once established, stresses which surface in this way, can be considered in a more structured setting later. Furthermore, this 'open-ended' interview produces a 'story', a collection of narrative fragments which together provide a unique record of a field of human experience.