Quality in qualitative research

Clive Seale

Brunel University, UK
Quantitative research

The researcher counts phenomena that are known to exist, establishing their
distribution, co-occurrence and causal links.

Methodological procedures are strongly specified.

Stages of research (planning, hypothesis formation, data collection, analysis) are
sequential and separate.
Qualitative research

The researcher discovers new phenomena, often through re-interpreting ones that
are thought to be already known.

Meanings are thereby investigated, disrupted and changed.
Methodological procedures are loosely specified.

Stages of research are interactive, sequenced in unpredictable ways.
Learn from both traditions:


The quality of qualitative research is improved by using
numbers


The quality of quantitative research is improved by
attention to meaning and interpretation at all stages.

Avoid this kind of paradigm rivalry:

this book marks the end of an era. It signals a turning point in the history of
qualitative research in American sociology. At the very moment that this work finds
its place in the libraries of scholars and students, it is being challenged by a new
body of work coming from the neighboring fields of anthropology and cultural
studies. Post-Geertzian anthropologists (Marcus, Tyler, Clifford, Bruner, Turner,
Pratt, Asad, Rosaldo, Crapanzano, Fischer, Rabinow) are now writing on the politics
and poetics of ethnography. They are taking seriously the question How do we
write culture? They are proposing that postmodern ethnography can no longer
follow the guidelines of positivist social science. Gone are words like theory,
hypothesis, concept, indicator, coding scheme, sampling, validity, and reliability. In
their place comes a new language: readerly texts, modes of discourse, cultural
poetics, deconstruction, interpretation, domination, feminism, genre, grammatology,
hermeneutics, inscription, master narrative, narrative structures, otherness,
postmodernism, redemptive ethnography, semiotics, subversion, textuality, tropes.

Denzin, N.K. (1988) Qualitative analysis for social scientists Contemporary
Sociology. 17 (3): 430-2. (Book review of Strauss, A.L. (1987) Qualitative Analysis
for Social Scientists. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.)

Validity and Reliability in the quantitative tradition

1. Reliability / replicability

2. Internal validity / adequacy of causal statements
a. Measurement validity / adequacy of concept-indicator links (face, criterion,
construct validity etc)

3. External validity / generalisability
Conceptual proliferation

A comprehensive review identified:
successor validity, catalytic validity, interrogated validity, transgressive validity,
imperial validity, simulacra / ironic validity, situated validity, and voluptuous
validity. (Altheide and Johnson 1994, p.488).

But they missed:
apparent, instrumental and theoretical validity (Kirk and Miller 1986)

And on reliability note:
quixotic, diachronic and synchronic reliability (Kirk and Miller 1986)





Altheide, D.L. and Johnson, J.M. (1994) Criteria for assessing interpretive validity in qualitative
research in Denzin, N.K. and Lincoln, Y.S. (eds) Handbook of Qualitative Research. Thousand Oaks:
Sage. pp 485-499

Kirk, J. and Miller, M. (1986) Reliability and Validity in Qualitative Research Newbury Park: Sage.
Lincoln and Gubas (1985) translation of terms


Conventional inquiry Naturalistic inquiry

Truth value (Internal validity) Credibility

Applicability (External validity) Transferability

Consistency (Reliability) Dependability

Neutrality (Objectivity) Confirmability


Lincoln, Y.S. and Guba, E. (1985). Naturalistic Enquiry. Beverly Hills: Sage.

Authenticity

fairness the research has represented a range of different realities

ontological authenticity - the research has helped members develop more
sophisticated understandings of the phenomenon being studied

educative authenticity the research has helped members appreciate the
viewpoints of people other than themselves

catalytic authenticity the research has stimulated some form of action

tactical authenticity the research has empowered members to act

Guba, E.G. and Lincoln, Y.S. (1994) Competing paradigms in qualitative research in Denzin, N.K. and
Lincoln, Y.S. (eds) ) Handbook of Qualitative Research Thousand Oaks: Sage. pp. 105-117.
Legislators and interpreters

The typically modern strategyis one best characterised by the metaphor of the
legislator role. It consists of making authoritative statements which arbitrate in
controversiesThe authority to arbitrate is in this case legitimised by superior
(objective) knowledge[access to which] is better thanks to procedural rules which
assure the attainment of truth

The typically post-modern strategyis one best characterised by the metaphor of
the interpreter role. It consists of translating statements, made within one
communally based tradition, so that they can be understood within the system of
knowledge based on another traditionfacilitating communication [and]
preventing the distortion of meaning

The post-modern strategy does not imply the elimination of the modern one...[nor
does] the post-modern mode constitute an advance over the modern one

Bauman, Z. (1987) Legislators and interpreters. Cambridge: Polity.

Realism + Idealism = Subtle realism


Criteria for subtle realists

1. Plausibility - is the account consistent with existing knowledge or does it
challenge this?

2. Credibility Is there sufficient evidence for claims made. Strongest evidence
needed for more central claims

3. Relevance how does it relate to practical concerns / value positions?


Hammersley, M. (1992) Whats Wrong With Ethnography: Methodological Explorations. London:
Routledge.


How researchers can use methodological debate


Dont try to solve philosophical problems though research practice


Use paradigm positions as resources for thinking


Develop methodological awareness through exposure to a variety of
methodological discussions.


Seale C.F. (1999) The quality of qualitative research. London: Sage.

Some skills for qualitative researchers

1. Triangulation
2. Searching for negative instances / analytic induction
3. Member validation / participatory action research
4. Generating grounded theory
5. Knowing when to do quantitative work (and how to do it)
6. Use of low inference descriptors
7. Reflexive reporting
Triangulation


1. Data
2. Investigator
3. Method
An example of the triangulation of methods

Subject: social scientists attitudes to media coverage of their research.
Methods: quantitative and qualitative research methods were combined, including
a structured mail questionnaire survey and semi-structured interviews.

Result of comparison: the quantitative method (the mail questionnaire)
suggested that the social scientists were generally positive about how the media
covered their work, whilst the more qualitative (semi-structured) interviews
revealed their views to be far more negative.

Therefore: data re-examined to understand this: whilst the social scientists were
generally satisfied with the media reporting of their research, they were much
more critical of specific instances in which they felt the media had represented
their research in a negative light.

Deacon, D., Bryman, A. and Fenton, N. (1998) Collision or collusion? a discussion of the unplanned
triangulation of quantitative and quantitative research methods, International Journal of Social Research
Methodology, 1: 47-63.
Cicourels triangulation

The triangulation procedure varies with the research problem. When gathering
information on language acquisition in the home setting we left a tape recorder for
about one hour during lunch. A transcription of the tape was done by a typist who
had been instructed to render a verbatim record. Then the transcript, the first
version of this scene, was read by the mother while she listened to the tape; her
comments produced another version of the interaction. The typist was next asked
to listen again to the tape and to describe what she thought was going on,
correcting her original transcript as she deemed necessary. In this elaboration and
correction a different version of the scene was always produced. My phonetic
transcription of the tapes created still another version...The reader could now say
that we should have simply combined the different versions to produce the best
one possible, but the point is that different versions could have been produced
indefinitely by simply hiring different typists and providing the mother with different
transcripts.


(Cicourel 1974, p. 124)
Transcription using the conventions of
conversation analysis is like:


watching talk happen in slow motion

or

looking down a microscope

Doctor: yeah sure. Well you said youre not happy with the Modecate

Patient: Im not sure what Im happy with. Because its got its side effects.
Its making me rigid and making me feel like Im drunk.

Doctor: A bit stiff and uncomfortable.

Patient: when Im late I walk better. Its in the mind and in your legs and
your body.

Doctor: Can I make a suggestion then FirstName?

(PDP94 Modecate and Chlorpromazine)

1 Doctor: youve said youre not happy
2 Patient: [( )
3 Doctor: [with the Modecate
4 Patient: Im not sure what Im happy with
5 Doctor: we[ll
6 Patient: [because its got its side effects
7 Doctor: it
8 Patient: it makes me legs um (0.4) rigid and
9 Doctor: it ma[kes them a bit stiff does it
10 Patient: [( ) like Im drunk
11 Doctor: right
12 Patient: and you [no:: ( )
13 Doctor: [and uncomfortable yeh yeh
14 Patient: when Im late I walk better (0.6) its in the mind (0.3)
15 balancing your legs and your body
16 Doctor: can I make a suggestion then Firstname

(PDP94 Modecate and Chlorpromazine)
Version 1
Doctor: Its very hard to be absolutely dogmatic about any predictions with these things.
But despite all of those things, in the majority of people the disease does come back,
even from the beginning.

Patient: Yes,

Doctor: And if it does come back, we can try other drugs which may control it for a little
while, but generally all that you can try and do is control the symptoms.

Patient: Yes Mm.

Doctor: Uhm, the first time gives us the best chance for a longer survival, hopefully long
term, but the odds are generally against that. But if [our emphasis] we do nothing for
these sorts of diseases, it kills you within a couple of months.

Wife: The breakdown could be that quick could it?

Patient: Mmm

Doctor: Well actually its quite spectacularly fast.
(Seale and Silverman 1997:381)
Version 2

1 D: But er despite all of those things, in the majority
2 of people the disease does come back
3 (0.8)
4 D: even from the beginning.
5 P: Yes
6 D: And: (0.4) if it does come back we can try
7 other drugs which may control it for a little while
8 P: mm um
9 D: but generally all that you can try and do is control
10 the symptoms.
11 P: Yes mm.
12 D: Uhm, the first time gives us the best chance
13 for a longer (0.5) survival hopefully long term
14 P: hhm
15 D: but the odds are generally against that.
16 P: Yes um (0.4)
17 D: But if we do nothing for these sorts of diseases it
18 kills you within a couple of months.
19 P: Yes
(Seale and Silverman 1997: 382)
Overall, would you say that life:

Brings out the best in you? 1
Treats you like everybody else? 2
Doesn't give you a chance? 3
1 I. overall would you say that life brings
2 out (0.2) the best in you
3 R. yes
4 I. treats you like everybody else=
5 R. =yes:
5 I. or doesnt give a chance
7 R. eh:?
8 (1.0)
9 I. what >do you think that< (0.2) life (0.2)
10 brings out the best in you
11 (0.5)
12 [or ( )
13 R. [yeah the best yeah yeah
14 I. right (0.5) so thats your (0.2) your
15 answer yeah [life .>br< life brings
16 R. [yes yes
17 I. out the best in you does it?
18 ((some lines omitted))
19 I. okay (0.2) so of those three (o.2) you think
20 life brings out the best it doesnt (0.2)
21 treat you like everyone else an it (0.2)
22 it doesnt (0.2) not give you a chance
23 R. (hhh)=
24 I. =yeah?
25 (2.0)
26 R. (doesnt) give me a .h [hh ((sniff))
27 I. [okay
28 (1.0)
29 alright (0.5) next one

(Houtkoop-Steenstra 2000)
1 Doc Lets [have a listen at the back [then
2 Baby [aaaaaaaaa
3 Moth [just her chest I could
4 hear her wheezing it was carrying around [( )
5 Baby [aaaaaaaaaaaa
6 Doc its all right [its allrigh ( )
7 Baby [aaaaaaa
8 Moth oh shell chuck every [( )
9 Baby [aaaaa
10 Doc oo::h look at tho::se ya hah HA:H you cant ( )
11 Moth [( )
12 Baby [mmmmmaaaaaaa
13 Doc oh darling
14 Baby aaaaaaaaaaa AAAAAAAA [AAAAAAA]AAaaaaaaaaaa
15 Moth [ come o::::n]
16 [big breath
17 Baby [aaauuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuaaa
18 Doc heh okay
19 Baby .hhh AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA[AAaaaa uuuuu
20 Doc [theres a good girl
21 Baby .hhhh aaaaaAAAAAAAA[iiiiiiiiii
22 Moth [look at tha:t
23 Baby [aaaaaaa .hhhhh aaaaa
24 Moth [bunnee::: bunnee:::
25 Doc [whats that whats that aaa:: thats nice
26 Moth [aa:: thats nice
27 Baby [aaaaaaaa mmmmmmm [AAAAAAAAAAAAAA
28 Moth [the:re come o::n calm down
29 Baby .hhhhh aaaAAAAA [AAA
30 Doc [oka:y
31 Moth [can you hear anything
32 Baby [aaaAAAAAA
33 Doc [its actually not sounding too bad
((from here on babys cries, which are continuous with short breaks for breath, are not transcribed))

34 Doc I think its just (0.5) shes so in pain with the teeth coming [throu:gh
35 Moth [yeh
36 Doc that thats whats causing the problem=
37 Moth =so you dont think shes ( )
38 Doc how long has she been poorly for now
39 Moth u:m very [wheezy for the last (.) she's had the cough for the last
40 [krkrkrkrkrkrkrkrkrkkrkrkrkrkrkrkrkrkrkrkrkrkrkrkrk**
41 Moth three or four days
42 Doc right okay okay (1.2) I'll just have [another whiz around ( )
43 [kr krrr kr**
44 Doc and I'll just check her ears (1.0) see if she's brewing something in there (0.5)
45 a:llright darling heart (0.4) it's all right, sweet[heart
46 Moth [o:::h no::
47 Doc ( ) (3.0)
48 thats a good girl thats fi:ne (0.2) thats a good girl (0.3)
49 Moth my dea::r (heres a ) quick tissue
50 Doc ah the:::re
51 Moth aa: the:::re [my: the:::re
52 Doc [theres a good [girl
53 Moth [there come on now
54 Doc O:h what a good girl (0.7) okay thats fine as well (0.3) okay
55 what I'm going to do (0.2) is um (2.5) is I'm gunna give you some
56 Calpol okay just to try and settle her temperature
57 Child yeh we got [Calpol ( )
58 Moth [right weve got a little bottle at home
59 Doc okay so more

** krkrkrkrkrk is the sound of a mechanical toy which the child is playing with, perhaps a toy gun or car
Dct: I think it's just that she's so in pain with the teeth coming through, that that's
what's causing the problem.
Mum: You don't think she's (unclear - baby cries)
Dct: How long has she been poorly for now?
Mum: Um, very wheezy for the last she's had the cough for the last three or four
days.
Dct: Right, okay, okay. I'll just have another whiz round, and I'll just check her
ears, just in case she's brewing something in there. All right, darling heart,
it's all right, sweetheart. Oh (baby cries again) That's a good girl, that's
fine. Good girl. There's a good girl. (baby carries on crying). Okay, that's
fine as well. Okay.
What I'm going to do is I'm going to give you some Calpol in order to try and
settle her temperature.
Mum: We've got a little bottle at home.
Dct: I'll get you some more, okay, to settle her temperature nicely. And I would
give it another 24 or 48 hours, okay. I'll print you some further information
from
Three uses for deviant cases (qualitative research)

1. Deviant cases that provide additional support for the analysts conclusions,
perhaps by showing participants acknowledging that an event is unusual.

2. Deviant cases that require modification of the analysts emerging ideas.

3. The deviant case is considered exceptional for good, explainable reasons.

(After Perkyl 1997)
Deviant case leads to modification of ideas

Original finding:

Jeffery, R. (1979) Normal rubbish: deviant patients in casualty departments'.
Sociology of Health and Illness, 1 (1): 90-107

Study of typifications / stereotypes of staff concerning adult patients in hospital
casualty departments

'Bad' patients have problems deemed to be trivial, or were drunks, tramps or
victims of self-harm.

'Good' patients: have problems which allowed doctors to practice and learn new
clinical skills, or test the professional knowledge-of staff.
Deviant case leads to modification of ideas (contd)

Deviant case:

Dingwall, R. and Murray, T. (1983) 'Categorisation in Accident Departments: "Good"
Patients, "Bad" Patients and Children', Sociology of Health and Illness, 5 (2): 121-
48.

Children in casualty departments rather than adults often exhibited the qualities of
the 'bad' adult patients, being uncooperative for example, or suffering from mild or
self inflicted injuries. Yet staff did not treat them harshly / consider them 'bad'
patients.

Resultant modification
The labels (eg: 'good', 'bad') applied by staff depend on whether patients are
perceived as being able to make choices (children were not, adults were, on the
whole). Children were thus 'forgiven' as they were understandably 'irresponsible'
Deviant cases give additional support

Seale CF. (1995) Dying alone. Sociology of Health and Illness 17, 3, 376-392.

Emerging generalisation
People were mostly concerned to demonstrate their moral adequacy by
emphasising that this was an unwelcome event, and that had they been able they
would have wanted to be present at the death.
Deviant cases give additional support (contd)

Deviant cases
Five people who said they had not wanted to be present at the death of a person
who died alone:

For example, the wife of a publican said that her husband's long standing alcoholism
had left her feeling little warmth for him; her reason for wishing she had been there
was to save her employee the distress of finding the body.

In each case the deviation from the ideal of 'being there' was associated with some
alternative strategy for defending speaker's action / feelings as morally defensible.

Conclusion
These are alternative strategies for establishing the speaker's membership within
the moral community, that do not contradict the notion that for most people this is
achieved by saying they wanted to be present at the death.
Degrees of member validation in realist paradigm

WEAK VERSION

1. Quite commonly, researchers give people transcripts of interviews to check
their accuracy.
2. Bloor gave doctors his accounts of their decision rules to check for
accuracy.
3. Ball presented and discussed an interim report on school activities to the
school - ran a discussion group on the report.
4. Discuss the full report with the people whose situations it describes

STRONG VERSION

Nurses speak of surgeons as seeing themselves as above infection. An infection
control nurse commented: You very seldom find both surgeon and anaesthetist with
masks adjusted properly. Student nurses, on the other hand look as if they practice
in front of the mirror, so perfectly straight are their masks. Nurses are told to wear
them whenever in theatre... So perhaps it is simply an issue of status, and the
degree of compliance with masking routine is inversely related to the position in the
hierarchy... as has been seen in the above extracts, nurses are aware of the
doubtful value of masks, yet it is the doctors who flout the rules, yet are silent over
this matter. [Fox then quotes a doctor saying:] Nurses are very conservative and
fairly rigid in their outlook. They are by far the best people for maintaining surgical
sterility.


Fox, N.J. (1992) The Social Meaning of Surgery. Buckingham: Open University Press. p.26
1. Nurses speak of surgeons as seeing themselves as above infection.

2. An infection control nurse commented: You very seldom find both surgeon
and anaesthetist with masks adjusted properly.

3. Student nurses, on the other hand look as if they practice in front of the
mirror, so perfectly straight are their masks.

4. Nurses are told to wear them whenever in theatre...

5. So perhaps it is simply an issue of status, and the degree of compliance with
masking routine is inversely related to the position in the hierarchy...

6. as has been seen in the above extracts, nurses are aware of the doubtful
value of masks, yet it is the doctors who flout the rules, yet are silent over
this matter.

7. [Fox then quotes a doctor saying:] Nurses are very conservative and fairly
rigid in their outlook. They are by far the best people for maintaining surgical
sterility.


Fox, N.J. (1992) The Social Meaning of Surgery. Buckingham: Open University Press. p.26
Wearing of protective clothing by doctors and nursing personnel in hospital

Times Percentages
entered wearing
room Cap Gown Mask

Doctors 47 5 0 5
Professional
nurses 100 24 18 14
Practical
nurses* 121 86 45 46
Aides 142 94 80 72
Students 97 100 100 100


* Practical nurses were of a lower grade than professional nurses

Roth, J. (1957) Ritual and magic in the control of contagion.
American Sociological Review. 22: 310-314. p.312, Table 2)
Establishing the typicality of a case

1. Take a case on the basis of it representing the future

2. Provide full details of context to inform judgements of transferability to other cases

3. Take a case typical of a cluster of characteristics

4. Study more than one case

- team research to study different cases

- chooses cases on the basis of broader statistical picture
Table 5.10 Good and bad schools' policy

Good school Score

No subjects taken by pupils at age 16 or younger where
allocation is wholly determined by sex 1
Measures arc not taken to ensure a balance of the sexes
in streams or bands 1
A rotational craft system operates 1
A course in women's studies operates 1
A member of staff or group of teachers have special
interest/responsibility for promoting the policy 1
The policy has been discussed in meetings of:
Governors 1
Parent-teacher associations 1
Staff 1
Pupils arc informed in option booklets that all
subjects arc open to both sexes 1

Total possible score 9
Bad school Score

Pupils at age 16 or younger are allocated to certain
subjects on the grounds of their sex 1
Measures are taken to balance the sexes in streams or bands 1
No staff with interest/responsibility in the policy 1
Subject not discussed by:
Governors 1
Parent-teacher associations 1
Staff meetings 1
Pupils informed in options booklet that technical
subjects are for boys, home economics for girls 1

Total possible score 7
Five schools selected for case studies

Midland Comprehensive 11-18 comprehensive; 720 pupils; Midlands; city centre
catchment; Labour LEA; amalgamation of two single-sex schools; poor situation and
catchment; 50 per cent of pupils non-European background; positive discrimination
policy towards non-traditional choice, pioneered by headteacher.

Inner City Comprehensive 11-18 comprehensive; 850 pupils; London city centre
catchment; Labour LEA; popular school with active equal opportunities policy
promoted by dynamic headteacher and widely supported by staff.

Northern Modern 11-16 secondary modern; 760 pupils; mainly council estate
catchment; northern region; Conservative LEA; head least sympathetic to equal
opportunities of all we visited.

Smallchange Secondary 12-18 secondary modern; 720 pupils; in southern rural
catchment; Conservative LEA; passive view of equal opportunities.

Oldboys Grammar 11-18 grammar school in prosperous London suburb; 700 pupils;
Conservative LEA; highly traditional atmosphere and emphasis on academic
excellence; little concern with equal opportunities.
Sieber's (1979) study: sampling within a case

our own fieldwork... developed into a study of school boards, superintendents, and
the leaders of the high school teachers. After conducting a survey, however, I was
able to correct certain impressions that emerged from my elite bias. This can be
shown quite simply. Prior to looking at the results of the survey, I predicted the
proportion of teachers who would respond in particular ways to the survey
questions. I then compared my predictions with the actual responses. It became
obvious when observing these comparisons that I had unwittingly adopted the
elites version of reality. For example, I overestimated the extent to which teachers
felt that the administration accepted criticism. Here are the relevant questions and
the statistics: "Do you think that teachers who are interested in administrative
openings jeopardize their opportunities in this district by voicing criticism of present
school policies and practices?" (% responding "definitely" and "possibly"):
Predicted Observed

System A 40 60

System B 40 65
Similarly, I had assumed that the teachers were more satisfied with evaluative
procedures than was in fact the case: All in all, how well do you think the evaluation
of teachers is done in your school?" (% responding "as well as possible" and "fairly
well"):

Predicted Observed
System A
Elementary............ 80 65
Secondary............ 50 36
System B
Elementary............ 80 74
Secondary............ 75 56

Although to a lesser extent, I also overestimated the rank-and-file support for the
leaders of the teachers association, with whom I had spent a good deal of time. In
short, I had fallen prey to the elite bias, despite recent training in the dangers of
giving greater weight to prestigious figures as informants. (1979: 1353)
Ways of using numbers to enhance qualitative research

1. The logic of triangulation
2. Qualitative research facilitates quantitative research
3. Quantitative research facilitates qualitative research
4. Quantitative and qualitative research are combined in order to produce a
general picture
5. Structure and process
6. Researchers and subjects perspectives
7. The problem of generality
8. Qualitative research may facilitate the interpretation of relations between
variables

(Source: adapted from Bryman 1988: 131-151)
Qualitative research facilitates quantitative research

The guiding principle in the interviews was to get informants to talk about what
was important to them when implementing statewide testing programs. These
findings provided the outline for the development of the survey instrument. The
interview data revealed five themes around which a series of questions were
developed. The themes included: the contexts in which the districts operated, the
responses the districts made to tests, the strategies they employed to carry out
those responses, the uses to which the tests were put, and the effects of the
tests. In addition to the major themes around which the questions were
organized, the interview data also offered specific information for the wording of
survey questions. Thus, the qualitative data in phase one of the study were
designed to inform the development of the survey in phase two.

(Rossman and Wilson 1994: 322-323)



Quantitative and qualitative research are combined to produce a general picture

What was found in McKeganey's qualitative study

Five types of needle sharing:
1. accidental
2. due to necessity where, for example, no other means of injection were available
3. due to intense needs in withdrawal
4. when an injector believes another person to be clean
5. in settings where a social norm of reciprocal favours was strong.


Factors that seemed to affect propensity to share:
1. Women more likely than men to share with sexual partners.
2. Social distance of person shared with
3. Length of drug injecting experience
Vignettes of needle sharing experiences

Borrowing Vignette 1
I want you to imagine that you are with your steady partner. You have both just
scored and you both have your own tools (needle and syringe). The two of you are
in a stairwell of a block of flats preparing to inject but your needle has just blocked.
Would you:
1. Go away and try and get a new set of works (needle and syringe).
2. Ask your partner if you could use his/hers saying that you can wash them out
with the bottle of water in your pocket

Lending Vignette 1
I want you to imagine that you are standing on a street corner. In your pocket you
have a set of works that you used earlier the same day. Someone that you dont
know very well comes up and says that he/she is strung out, that he/shes got
drugs to hit up but no tools. He/she asks if you have a set on you. Would you:
1. Tell him/her to get lost.
2. Say that you cant let him/her have the works in your pocket.
3. Give him/her a set of tools but tell him/her that they are your only set and you
want them back.
4. Tell him/her that he/she can use the works in your pocket but that you dont want
them back.

(Source: McKeganey et al 1995: 1254-1255)
Borrowing vignettes (n=505)
Partner Very good friend Acquaintance Total*
Yes (%) 331 (65.6) 193 (38.2) 64 (12.7) 346 (68.5)
No (%) 148(29.3) 308 (61.0) 436 (86.3) 141 (27.9)
Other (%) 26(5.1) 4 (0.8) 5 (1.0) 18 (3.6)

*Total: yes= number prepared to borrow on at least one of the vignettes; no= number
not prepared to borrow on any of the vignettes.

Lending vignettes (n=505)
Partner Very good friend Acquaintance Total*
Yes (%) 370 (73.3) 398 (78.8) 331 (65.6) 435 (86.1)
No (%) 99 (19.6) 104 (20.6) 172 (34.0) 63 (12.5)
Other (%) 36 (7.1) 3 (0.6) 2 (0.4) 7 (1.4)

*Total: yes= number prepared to lend on at least one of the vignettes; no= number not
prepared to lend on any of the vignettes.

(Source: McKeganey et al 1995; Tables 1 and 2)
Question about help with care and quantitative and qualitative replies.

'When you visited, did you help with (deceased's) care?

Hospice Hospital
1967-69 47% 29%
1977-79 85% 25%*
1994-95 49% 41%

* = reported as a statistically significant difference between groups.
Different reasons for helping with care

If she was having a meal and I thought she needed assistance I would help. I'm
happy about my involvement. There was a happy fellowship and my family were
happy with the services we received. (Hospice group)

I helped with various aspects of care, partly because I wanted to, and partly
because the nurses were so busy. I shaved him brushed his hair, washed him.
(Hospital group)

Yes sometimes he would be incontinent and his slippers would be wet, so he
developed sores on his feet. I looked at that and dried his feet. I brought in food -
ice cream and liquid feeds. I tidied him up in general. (The hospital) were rationing
liquid food so I brought it in myself. I brought in ice cream too - in fact all his food.
He never ate any of the hospital food. (Hospital group)