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'Boden Food Plate': Novel Interactive Web-based Method for the Assessment of Dietary Intake

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Using unstructured diaries for primary data collection.

Juliet Anne Thomas¹

¹Edge Hill University, Ormskirk, Lancashire, UK.

Nurse Researcher

|May 16, 2015

Summary

Unstructured handwritten diaries offer a resource-efficient method for collecting rich qualitative data, aiding in the development of new theories on nursing student professional socialization. This approach provides valuable insights into early clinical experiences.

Keywords:

Diary keeping grounded theory nursing students professional socialisation qualitative data collection unstructured written diaries

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Area of Science:

Nursing Education Research
Qualitative Data Collection Methods

Background:

Diaries are a common qualitative data collection tool, despite potential compliance challenges.
They offer rich, meaningful data, bypassing recall bias issues.
This study reflects on using diaries in doctoral research.

Purpose of the Study:

To provide a reflective account of using unstructured handwritten diaries for qualitative data collection.
To explore the utility of diaries in capturing in-depth insights into participant experiences.
To assess the effectiveness of diaries in generating novel theoretical perspectives.

Main Methods:

Employed unstructured handwritten diaries as the primary data collection method.
Utilized a grounded theory approach with open-ended research questions.
Collected daily diary entries from 26 nursing students over their initial five weeks of clinical experience.

Main Results:

Obtained a wealth of rich, detailed qualitative data through diary entries.
Facilitated the development of new theories on nursing students' professional socialization.
Demonstrated that diaries provide insightful, in-depth data resource-efficiently.

Conclusions:

Unstructured handwritten diaries are an effective and insightful qualitative data collection method.
This approach is valuable for nurse researchers seeking alternatives to traditional methods.
Diaries can yield significant findings, particularly in understanding early professional experiences.