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Dietetics, Nutrition and Biological Sciences

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://eresearch.qmu.ac.uk/handle/20.500.12289/23

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Author: search.filters.author.Bartlam, BernadetteHas files: Yes

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    Evaluating Acupuncture and Standard carE for pregnant women with Back pain (EASE Back): a feasibility study and pilot randomised trial
    (NIHR Journals Library, 2016-04-01) Foster, Nadine E.; Bishop, Annette; Bartlam, Bernadette; Ogollah, Reuben; Barlas, Panos; Holden, Melanie A.; Ismail, Khaled M. K.; Jowett, Sue; Kettle, Christine; Kigozi, Jesse; Lewis, Martyn; Lloyd, Alison; Waterfield, Jackie; Young, Julie
    Background: Many pregnant women experience low back pain. Acupuncture appears to be a safe, promising intervention but evidence is needed about its clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness. Objectives: To assess the feasibility of a future large randomised controlled trial (RCT) testing the additional benefit of adding acupuncture to standard care (SC) for pregnancy-related back pain.
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    The Role of Qualitative Research in Clinical Trial Development
    (2016-07-13) Bartlam, Bernadette; Waterfield, Jackie; Bishop, Annette; Holden, Melanie A.; Barlas, Panos; Ismail, Khaled M. K.; Kettle, Christine; Foster, Nadine E.
    This article outlines the rationale for adopting a mixed methods approach within randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and explores challenges associated in doing so. Taking the example of the EASE Back feasibility and pilot study (Evaluating Acupuncture and Standard care for pregnant womEn with BACK pain: ISRCTN49955124), we detail why and how we operationalized a concurrent-sequential mixed methods research design. We present key findings from the exploratory research (focus groups and interviews) and explain how these were integrated with descriptive findings (a national survey of physical therapists) in order to inform and refine the design of the explanatory phase (the pilot RCT). We conclude with a discussion of lessons learned and implications for future research design and conduct.
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    Saturation in qualitative research: exploring its conceptualization and operationalization
    (2017-09-14) Saunders, Benjamin; Sim, Julius; Kingstone, Tom; Baker, Shula; Waterfield, Jackie; Bartlam, Bernadette; Burroughs, Heather; Jinks, Clare
    Saturation has attained widespread acceptance as a methodological principle in qualitative research. It is commonly taken to indicate that, on the basis of the data that have been collected or analysed hitherto, further data collection and/or analysis are unnecessary. However, there appears to be uncertainty as to how saturation should be conceptualized, and inconsistencies in its use. In this paper, we look to clarify the nature, purposes and uses of saturation, and in doing so add to theoretical debate on the role of saturation across different methodologies. We identify four distinct approaches to saturation, which differ in terms of the extent to which an inductive or a deductive logic is adopted, and the relative emphasis on data collection, data analysis, and theorizing. We explore the purposes saturation might serve in relation to these different approaches, and the implications for how and when saturation will be sought. In examining these issues, we highlight the uncertain logic underlying saturation - as essentially a predictive statement about the unobserved based on the observed, a judgement that, we argue, results in equivocation, and may in part explain the confusion surrounding its use. We conclude that saturation should be operationalized in a way that is consistent with the research question(s), and the theoretical position and analytic framework adopted, but also that there should be some limit to its scope, so as not to risk saturation losing its coherence and potency if its conceptualization and uses are stretched too widely.