In the course of our supervisory work over the years, we have noticed that qualitative research tends to evoke a lot of questions and worries, so-called frequently asked questions (FAQs). This series of four articles intends to provide novice researchers with practical guidance for conducting high-quality qualitative research in primary care. By ‘novice’ we mean Master’s students and junior researchers, as well as experienced quantitative researchers who are engaging in qualitative research for the first time. This series addresses their questions and provides researchers, readers, reviewers and editors with references to criteria and tools for judging the quality of qualitative research papers. This second article addresses FAQs about context, research questions and designs. Qualitative research takes into account the natural contexts in which individuals or groups function to provide an in-depth understanding of real-world problems. The research questions are generally broad and open to unexpected findings. The choice of a qualitative design primarily depends on the nature of the research problem, the research question(s) and the scientific knowledge one seeks. Ethnography, phenomenology and grounded theory are considered to represent the ‘big three’ qualitative approaches. Theory guides the researcher through the research process by providing a ‘lens’ to look at the phenomenon under study. Since qualitative researchers and the participants of their studies interact in a social process, researchers influence the research process. The first article described the key features of qualitative research, the third article will focus on sampling, data collection and analysis, while the last article focuses on trustworthiness and publishing.
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This study analyze data from three national contexts in which teachers worked with the same teaching materials and inquiry classroom activities, investigating teachers’ use of strategies to promote interaction and scaffolding when participating in a professional development program. The data material is collected from three case studies from the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden, respectively. Each case is from a teaching unit about green plants and seed sprouting. In one lesson in this unit, students were involved in planning an experiment with sprouting seeds, and this (similar) lesson was videotaped in three national settings. The main research question is, as follows: How do primary teachers use questions to scaffold conceptual understanding and language use in inquiry science activities? The data analysis shows that teachers ask different kind of questions such as open, closed, influencing and orienting questions. The open, orienting questions induce students to generate their own ideas, while closed orienting and influencing questions often scaffold language and content-specific meaning-making. However, both open, closed, orienting and influencing questions can scaffold student language and conceptual understanding. Often, teacher questions scaffold both language content-specific meaning-making at the same time. The study shows the subtle mechanisms through which teachers can use questions to scaffold student science literacy and thereby including them in classroom interaction.
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Rationale: In this study, we aimed to explore how dietitians’ history-taking questions function during dietary counseling of clients with malnutrition (risk). Fruitful functioning of history-taking questions during the problem identification phase is crucial for dietitians to develop a client-centered dietary treatment plan.Methods: Using discursive psychology, we analyzed the problem identification phase of recorded dietitian-client conversations of 7 dietitians and 17 clients. Discursive psychology is a qualitative, inductive methodology that is used to analyze real-life conversations. Discursive psychology focuses on how descriptions in talk (including wording, intonation, pauses, non-verbal behavior) accomplish actions such as presenting oneself in a particular way.Results: Our analysis shows how, in response to dietitians’ history-taking questions, clients repeatedly demonstrate that they have already made some effort to self-help. Typically, these history-taking questions presume some biopsychosocial factor as the cause of the dietary problems discussed. In response, clients show they already started to eat extra, closely monitored their body weight, and tried to eat despite having no appetite. In addition, clients account for the absence of efforts by claiming various kinds of inability, such as facing difficulties in preparing food for oneself or by questioning whether their underlying medical condition caused the diet-related problem in the first place.Conclusion: This study shows that history-taking questions not only elicit answers with factual information but also evoke clients’ self-presentations. Responses from dietitians show little attention to the relevance of these self-presentations,while clients treat self-help as a normative requirement to demonstrate they have done everything they can before they sought professional help. To optimize the problem identification phase, we suggest that in addition to conversationaltechniques dietitians could increase their attention to clients’ actions performed.
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Due to the existing pressure for a more rational use of the water, many public managers and industries have to re-think/adapt their processes towards a more circular approach. Such pressure is even more critical in the Rio Doce region, Minas Gerais, due to the large environmental accident occurred in 2015. Cenibra (pulp mill) is an example of such industries due to the fact that it is situated in the river basin and that it has a water demanding process. The current proposal is meant as an academic and engineering study to propose possible solutions to decrease the total water consumption of the mill and, thus, decrease the total stress on the Rio Doce basin. The work will be divided in three working packages, namely: (i) evaluation (modelling) of the mill process and water balance (ii) application and operation of a pilot scale wastewater treatment plant (iii) analysis of the impacts caused by the improvement of the process. The second work package will also be conducted (in parallel) with a lab scale setup in The Netherlands to allow fast adjustments and broaden evaluation of the setup/process performance. The actions will focus on reducing the mill total water consumption in 20%.
In order to achieve much-needed transitions in energy and health, systemic changes are required that are firmly based on the principles of regard for others and community values, while at the same time operating in market conditions. Social entrepreneurship and community entrepreneurship (SCE) hold the promise to catalyze such transitions, as they combine bottom-up social initiatives with a focus on financially viable business models. SCE requires a facilitating ecosystem in order to be able to fully realize its potential. As yet it is unclear in which way the entrepreneurial ecosystem for social and community entrepreneurship facilitates or hinders the flourishing and scaling of such entrepreneurship. It is also unclear how exactly entrepreneurs and stakeholders influence their ecosystem to become more facilitative. This research programme addresses these questions. Conceptually it integrates entrepreneurial ecosystem frameworks with upcoming theories on civic wealth creation, collaborative governance, participative learning and collective action frameworks.This multidisciplinary research project capitalizes on a unique consortium: the Dutch City Deal ‘Impact Ondernemen’. In this collaborative research, we enhance and expand current data collection efforts and adopt a living-lab setting centered on nine local and regional cases for collaborative learning through experimenting with innovative financial and business models. We develop meaningful, participatory design and evaluation methods and state-of-the-art digital tools to increase the effectiveness of impact measurement and management. Educational modules for professionals are developed to boost the abovementioned transition. The project’s learnings on mechanisms and processes can easily be adapted and translated to a broad range of impact areas.
The developments of digitalization and automation in freight transport and logistics are expected to speed-up the realization of an adaptive, seamless, connected and sustainable logistics system. CATALYST determines the potential and impact of Connected Automated Transport (CAT) by testing and implementing solutions in a real-world environment. We experiment on smart yards and connected corridors, to answer research questions regarding supply chain integration, users, infrastructure, data and policy. Results are translated to overarching lessons on CAT implementations, and shared with potential users and related communities. This way, CATALYST helps logistic partners throughout the supply chain prepare for CAT and accelerates innovation.
