Yes / Aim To explore the challenges of engaging men with
penile cancer in qualitative interview research.
Background Qualitative interviewing offers an ideal
tool for exploring men’s experiences of illness,
complementing and providing context to gendered
health inequalities identified in epidemiological research
on men. But conducting interviews with men can be
challenging and embarking on a qualitative interview
study with males can feel like a daunting task, given the
limited amount of practical, gender-sensitive guidance
for researchers. Reflecting on a researcher’s experience
of conducting qualitative research on men with penile
cancer, this paper explores the potential challenges
of interviewing this group, but also documents how
engagement and data collection were achieved.
Review methods This is a reflective paper, informed
by the experiences of a male researcher (KW) with
no nurse training, who conducted 28 interviews with
men who had been treated for penile cancer. The
researcher’s experiences are reported in chronological
order, from the methodological challenges of
recruitment to those of conducting the interview.
Implications for practice/research The paper offers a
resource for the novice researcher, highlighting some
advantages and disadvantages of conducting qualitative
interview research as a nurse researcher, as well as
recommendations on how to overcome challenges.
Conclusion Engaging men with penile cancer in
qualitative interview raises practical, methodological,
ethical and emotional challenges for the researcher.
However, when these challenges are met, men will talk
about their health. Methodological procedures must
enable an open and ongoing dialogue with clinical
gatekeepers and potential participants to promote
engagement. Support from colleagues is essential for any
interviewer, no matter how experienced the researcher is.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BRADFORD/oai:bradscholars.brad.ac.uk:10454/15522 |
| Date | 24 April 2013 |
| Creators | Witty, K., Branney, Peter, Bullen, K., White, A., Evans, J., Eardley, I. |
| Source Sets | Bradford Scholars |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Article, Accepted Manuscript |
| Rights | ©2014 RCN Publishing. This is a post-peer-review, pre-copy edited version of an article published in Nurse Researcher. The definitive publisher-authenticated version is available online at: https://journals.rcni.com/doi/full/10.7748/nr2014.01.21.3.13.e1218. |
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