Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Interpretive description: a noncategorical qualitative alternative for developing nursing knowledge

S Thorne1, S R Kirkham, J MacDonald-Emes

  • 1University of British Columbia School of Nursing, Vancouver, Canada. thome@nursing.ubc.ca

Research in Nursing & Health
|April 1, 1997
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Anaesthetic considerations in pregnant patients with cardiac arrhythmia.

BJA education·2023
Same author

CT of transposition of the great arteries in adults.

Clinical radiology·2022
Same author

Transcriptomic profiling of feline teeth highlights the role of matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP9) in tooth resorption.

Scientific reports·2020
Same author

Employment characteristics of a complex adult congenital heart disease cohort.

Occupational medicine (Oxford, England)·2017
Same author

Taking culture seriously: Can we improve the developmental health and well-being of Australian Aboriginal children in out-of-home care?

Child: care, health and development·2017
Same author

The management of labour in women with cardiac disease: need for more evidence?

BJOG : an international journal of obstetrics and gynaecology·2017
Same journal

Missed Nursing Care in Neonatal Intensive Care Units for Infants Experiencing or at Risk of Experiencing Substance Withdrawal.

Research in nursing & health·2026
Same journal

The Impact of Stress, Trauma, and Violence on Well-Being and Physical Health.

Research in nursing & health·2026
Same journal

A Comparison of Post-Traumatic Stress and Depressive Symptoms by Suicidal Ideation Among Black Transgender Women.

Research in nursing & health·2026
Same journal

Exploring Prolonged Grief Experiences of Ethnoracial Minoritized Caregivers: An Emic Perspective.

Research in nursing & health·2026
Same journal

The Psychometric Properties of the Caregiver Feeding Style Questionnaire: A Cross-Cultural Validation in Spanish Parents.

Research in nursing & health·2026
Same journal

Feasibility of an Online Resilience Program for Mothers With Adverse Childhood Experiences.

Research in nursing & health·2026
See all related articles

Nurse researchers can advance nursing science by adopting interpretive description, a flexible qualitative method. This approach allows for credible research into health and illness experiences without strict adherence to traditional qualitative methods.

Area of Science:

  • Nursing Science
  • Qualitative Research Methodology

Background:

  • Nursing widely accepts qualitative research for clinical questions.
  • Traditional qualitative methods (e.g., phenomenology, grounded theory, ethnography) may not fully align with nursing's unique knowledge needs.
  • Nurse researchers often hesitate to move beyond established qualitative approaches.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To propose interpretive description as a suitable methodological alternative for nursing research.
  • To provide strategies for implementing interpretive description in nursing studies.
  • To support the development of nursing science through credible qualitative inquiry.

Main Methods:

  • Presents interpretive description as a non-categorical qualitative approach.
  • Outlines strategies for conceptual orientation, sampling, data construction, analysis, and reporting.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Emphasizes grounding the method in nursing's epistemological mandate.

    • Main Results:

    • Interpretive description offers a credible alternative to traditional qualitative methods in nursing.
    • This approach allows for the development of nursing knowledge without compromising theoretical or methodological integrity.
    • Nurses can effectively study human health and illness experiences using this flexible framework.

    Conclusions:

    • Interpretive description is a valuable methodological approach for advancing nursing science.
    • Flexibility in qualitative methods is crucial for addressing nursing's unique research questions.
    • This approach ensures the integrity of nursing research while exploring complex health phenomena.