To explore the challenges of engaging men with penile cancer in qualitative interview research

Branney, P

Bullen, K

Eardley, I

Evans, J

White, A

Witty, K

English

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

Oxford University Research Archive

Engaging men with penile cancer in qualitative research: reflections from an interview-based study.

Karl Witty

Peter Branney

Kate Bullen

Alan White

Julie Evans

Ian Eardley

Crossref

Nurse Researcher

Engaging men with penile cancer in qualitative research: reflections from an interview-based study

Oxford University Research Archive (ORA)

YesAim 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

Witty, K.

Branney, Peter

Bullen, K.

White, A.

Evans, J.

Eardley, I.

Bradford Scholars

Leeds Beckett Repository

OLIFFE, learned. OLIFFE, Masculinity

https://bradscholars.brad.ac.uk/bitstream/10454/15522/1/Branney_Nurse_Researcher.pdf

Engaging men with penile cancer in qualitative research: reflections from an interview-based study.

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

Oxford University Research Archive

Crossref

Oxford University Research Archive (ORA)

Bradford Scholars

Leeds Beckett Repository