Characteristics of Qualitative Descriptive Studies: A Systematic Review

Area of Science:

• Nursing Research
• Qualitative Health Research

Background:

• Qualitative description (QD) is frequently used for health and nursing studies.
• Limited literature discusses QD characteristics and methodologies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically review and characterize methods and findings in QD research published in 2014.
• To identify commonalities, variations, and areas for improvement in QD study reporting.

Main Methods:

• Systematic review of 55 QD research articles published in 2014.
• Data extraction focused on objectives, design, frameworks, sampling, data collection, analysis, and findings presentation.

Main Results:

• Most articles aligned with existing QD definitions, despite some inconsistencies.
• Flexible methodologies were common and effective for rich data acquisition.
• Justification for choosing QD approaches was often limited, requiring more attention.

Conclusions:

• Researchers should provide detailed QD methods for transparency and replicability.
• Enhancing the justification of QD approach selection is crucial for study rigor.
• Further discussion on QD methodology is needed to standardize reporting practices.