The "what, why, and how?" of story completion in health services research: a scoping review

The story completion method provides a different way of doing qualitative research. We note the emergent popularity of this method in health-related research, while much remains to be negotiated in terms of best practices for such studies. This scoping review aims to provide a synthesis on how researchers have used the story completion method in health services research. We offer implications for research and practice for further discussion by the scholarly community.

We used the JBI methodology for scoping reviews. Six databases were searched for published literature till March 1, 2023: Medline, Embase, CINAHL, PsycINFO, SAGE Journals Online databases, and SAGE Research Methods. We included primary studies of any study design using the story completion method in health services research.

A total of 17 studies were included. Findings suggest that the story completion method is useful for research on sensitive topics, and affords the use of comparative study designs and large sample sizes which may be difficult with conventional qualitative research methods. More than 80% of included studies used story completion as the sole method. However, the data collected from this method were limited in terms of the inferences that can be drawn; and richness of participant responses may vary widely. Less than 30% of included studies reported piloting of the story stems. Most studies were conducted online and analyzed qualitatively, though the story stem design and sample size varied widely.

The story completion method, with its attendant affordances for larger sample sizes, comparative study designs, and streamlined data collection is an innovative and useful stand-alone or adjunct qualitative method for health services research.