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Application of the critical incident technique in refining a realist initial programme theory

BACKGROUND: As realist methodology is still evolving, there is a paucity of guidance on how to conduct theory driven interviews. Realist researchers can therefore struggle to collect interview data that can make a meaningful contribution to refining their initial programme theory. Collecting data to...

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Autores principales: Cunningham, U., De Brún, A., McAuliffe, E.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: BioMed Central 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7249649/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32456682
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12874-020-01016-9
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author Cunningham, U.
De Brún, A.
McAuliffe, E.
author_facet Cunningham, U.
De Brún, A.
McAuliffe, E.
author_sort Cunningham, U.
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: As realist methodology is still evolving, there is a paucity of guidance on how to conduct theory driven interviews. Realist researchers can therefore struggle to collect interview data that can make a meaningful contribution to refining their initial programme theory. Collecting data to inform realist Inital Programme Theories (IPTs) in healthcare contexts is further compounded due to the healthcare workers’ busy work schedules. In this case study of team interventions in acute hospital contexts, we explore the benefits of using the Critical Incident Technique (CIT) in order to build and refine an initial programme theory. We contend that use of the CIT helps to draw on more specific experiences of “Key Informants” and therefore elicits richer and more relevant data for realist enquiry. METHODS: The five steps of the CIT were mapped against realist methods guidance and adapted into an interview framework. Specifications to identify an incident as “critical” were agreed. Probes were embedded in the interview framework to confirm, refine and/or refute previous theories. Seventeen participants were interviewed and recordings were transcribed and imported for analysis into NVivo software. Using RAMESES guidelines, Context-Mechanism-Outcomes configurations were extrapolated from a total of 31 incidents. RESULTS: We found that the CIT facilitated construction of an interview format that allowed participants to reflect on specific experiences of interest. We demonstrate how the CIT strengthened initial programme theory development as it facilitated the reporting of the specifics of team interventions and the contexts and mechanisms characteristic of those experiences. As new data emerged, it was possible to evolve previous theories synthesised from the literature as well as to explore new theories. CONCLUSIONS: Utilising a CIT framework paid dividends in terms of the relevance and usefulness of the data for refining the initial programme theory. Adapting the CIT questioning technique helped to focus the participants on the specifics relating to an incident allowing the interviewers to concentrate on probes to explore theories during the interview process. The CIT interview format therefore achieved its purpose and can be adapted for use within realist methodology.
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spelling pubmed-72496492020-06-04 Application of the critical incident technique in refining a realist initial programme theory Cunningham, U. De Brún, A. McAuliffe, E. BMC Med Res Methodol Research Article BACKGROUND: As realist methodology is still evolving, there is a paucity of guidance on how to conduct theory driven interviews. Realist researchers can therefore struggle to collect interview data that can make a meaningful contribution to refining their initial programme theory. Collecting data to inform realist Inital Programme Theories (IPTs) in healthcare contexts is further compounded due to the healthcare workers’ busy work schedules. In this case study of team interventions in acute hospital contexts, we explore the benefits of using the Critical Incident Technique (CIT) in order to build and refine an initial programme theory. We contend that use of the CIT helps to draw on more specific experiences of “Key Informants” and therefore elicits richer and more relevant data for realist enquiry. METHODS: The five steps of the CIT were mapped against realist methods guidance and adapted into an interview framework. Specifications to identify an incident as “critical” were agreed. Probes were embedded in the interview framework to confirm, refine and/or refute previous theories. Seventeen participants were interviewed and recordings were transcribed and imported for analysis into NVivo software. Using RAMESES guidelines, Context-Mechanism-Outcomes configurations were extrapolated from a total of 31 incidents. RESULTS: We found that the CIT facilitated construction of an interview format that allowed participants to reflect on specific experiences of interest. We demonstrate how the CIT strengthened initial programme theory development as it facilitated the reporting of the specifics of team interventions and the contexts and mechanisms characteristic of those experiences. As new data emerged, it was possible to evolve previous theories synthesised from the literature as well as to explore new theories. CONCLUSIONS: Utilising a CIT framework paid dividends in terms of the relevance and usefulness of the data for refining the initial programme theory. Adapting the CIT questioning technique helped to focus the participants on the specifics relating to an incident allowing the interviewers to concentrate on probes to explore theories during the interview process. The CIT interview format therefore achieved its purpose and can be adapted for use within realist methodology. BioMed Central 2020-05-26 /pmc/articles/PMC7249649/ /pubmed/32456682 http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12874-020-01016-9 Text en © The Author(s) 2020 Open AccessThis article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data.
spellingShingle Research Article
Cunningham, U.
De Brún, A.
McAuliffe, E.
Application of the critical incident technique in refining a realist initial programme theory
title Application of the critical incident technique in refining a realist initial programme theory
title_full Application of the critical incident technique in refining a realist initial programme theory
title_fullStr Application of the critical incident technique in refining a realist initial programme theory
title_full_unstemmed Application of the critical incident technique in refining a realist initial programme theory
title_short Application of the critical incident technique in refining a realist initial programme theory
title_sort application of the critical incident technique in refining a realist initial programme theory
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7249649/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32456682
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12874-020-01016-9
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