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The value of qualitative research online: Men’s accounts of depression

Learn about qualitative research online, collecting data from forums to explore men's depression accounts, challenges, and benefits. Understand the methodology and ethical considerations in this innovative approach.

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The value of qualitative research online: Men’s accounts of depression

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  1. The value of qualitative research online: Men’s accounts of depression • Chris Athanasiadis

  2. Outline • The case for qualitative research • Strengths and weaknesses • Moving forward in qualitative research: Doing qualitative research online • Collecting data • Anticipated challenges • Key references

  3. Qualitative research • Qualitative • Inductive • Subjectivity • Personal experiences from the participant’s perspective • Co-construction of meaning in social interactions • Suitable for complex understandings of the peoples personal experiences (aims to interpret and understand = hermeneutic)

  4. Social reality Multiple constructions of reality Personal Social Relational MacLeod (2001)

  5. Conversations How reality is constructed: (MacLeod, 2001) Systems of meaning Actions Physical and material structure of world Memory Rituals & institutions

  6. The strengths of qualitative research? • Advantage • Qualitative research offers ways to achieve an understanding of people’s experiences from their own perspectives and to explore the social construction of meaning (Burr, 1995; MacLeod, 2001). • Disadvantage of interviews • However, data obtained through interviews are often affected by: • Geographical restrictions (Robinson, 2001) • Social desirability (O’Brien & Clark, 2010)

  7. Qualitative research online • An innovative approach to researching participants’ accounts of their personal experiences that helps avoid these methodological shortcomings is the use of data from online forums (Gough, 2016). • Example • My study of unsolicited narratives from online interactions of depressed men.

  8. Advantages of online qualitative research: Research in male depression • What participants themselves acknowledge as relevant to their situation (Ridge, Emslie & White, 2011). • Naturalistic setting (Gough, 2016). • Avoids depressed men’s inhibitions - perception of others’ reactions (Galasiński, 2008) • Naturally occurring discourses - less social desirability (O’Brien & Clark, 2010) • Less re-enactment of masculinity norms (Ridge et al., 2011). • No geographical restrictions (Robinson, 2001).

  9. Methodology • Sample • Data: Online interactions from publically available asynchronous online UK forums • Inclusion criteria • First posts by depressed men or about depressed men (e.g. partners) • Topic: male depression • Ideally, each interaction: min 3 posts

  10. Procedure • Phase 1 • Internet search through Google.co.uk using terms: • “Men’s mental health discussion forums uk” (Relevant results up to page 2, then irrelevant); • “Depressed men’s forums uk” (Relevant results up to page 5, then irrelevant); • “men’s depression online uk” (Relevant results up to page 9, then irrelevant). • 38 potentially relevant sites • Phase 2 • Reading and identifying qualifying forums • Only 5 met the inclusion criteria: patient.info; depressionforums.co.uk; netdoctor.co.uk (rich); dealingwithdepression.co.uk (rich); sane.org.uk • Phase 3 • Collection and storage of data

  11. Example data from depressionforums.org • My home life has been awful these last few months. I had a long access battle with my ex over visitation rights to see my children which drained me emotionally, and then to top it off, when I do get access my new partner doesn't get on with them. I was placed in an unenviable choice of pretty much either my partner or my kids. I buried my head in the sand and hoped it would all just sort itself out.. It didn't.. • I lost contact with my family, my children and my friends for over 8 months. • Things became gradually worse at home (….) I was made to feel selfish for being ill because she needed attention as she is pregnant. It got to a point where I had to leave for both our sanity. I now feel an incredible amount of guilt about the whole situation and I just feel like I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place. Denial Negative effects Escalation

  12. Challenges of qualitative research with data from online forums • Will online data always be available and accessible at that address? • How much of unsolicited narratives is sufficient? • Are forum users genuine? Age? Gender? Person circumstances? • How do you anonymise data from the internet? • Who owns the data? • Do you need to obtain the permission of the forum gatekeepers? • Do you need to inform the forum users? • Can you freely publish research outcomes that have relied on data from online forums?

  13. Does site require registration? Yes No Request permission from site gatekeepers Potentially inform forum users Potentially ask for informed consent Inform site gatekeepers of your intention to collect data Access rights to online forums

  14. Take-home message • Online forums are filled with naturally occurring conversations • Data from online forums can help avoid social desirability and geographical restrictions • Consider whether data are in the public domain • Collect data in a methodical way • Peruse online interactions for user characteristics that demonstrate consistency in how they project themselves. • Copy data into a locally saved Word file

  15. Forthcoming publications • Athanasiadis, C. (Accepted). “A man got to do what he got to do?”: Transcending depressed men’s stoicism. The Psychologist. • Athanasiadis, C., Gough, B., & Robertson, S. (Submitted). What do counsellors need to know about male depression? British Journal of Guidance and Counselling.

  16. Key references • British Psychological Society (2013). Ethics guidelines in internet-mediated research. Leicester: Author. • Burr, V. (1995). An introduction to social constructionism. London: Routledge. • Galasinski, D. (2008). Men’s discourses of depression. Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan. • Gough, B. (2016). Men’s depression talk online: A qualitative analysis of accountability and authenticity in help-seeking and support formulations. Psychology of Men & Masculinity, 17 (2), 156-164. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0039456 • MacLeod, J. (2001). Qualitative research in counselling and psychotherapy. London: Sage Publications. • Morrison, T., Farren-Gibson, A., Wigginton, B., & Crabb, S. (2015). Online research methods in psychology: Methodological opportunities for critical qualitative research. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 12(3), 223-232. doi: 10.1080/14780887.2015.1008899 • O’Brien, M. R., & Clark, D. (2010). Review Paper: Use of unsolicited first-person written illness narratives in research: Systematic review. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 66 (8), 1671-1682. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2648.2010.05349.x

  17. Key references (continued) • Ridge, D., Emslie, C., & White A. (2011). Understanding how men experience, express and cope with mental distress: Where next? Sociology of Health Illness, 33(1), 145-159. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9566.2010.01266.x • Robinson, K. M. (2001). Unsolicited narratives from the internet: A rich source of qualitative data. Qualitative Health Research, 11 (5), 706-714. doi: 10.1177/104973201129119398 • Snee, H. (2013). Making ethical decisions in an online context: Reflections on using bogs to explore narratives of experience. Methodological Innovations Online, 8 (2), 52-67. doi: 10.4256/mio.2013.013 • Williams, S., Clausen, M. G., Robertson, A., Peacock, S., & McPherson, K. (2012). Methodological reflections on the use of asynchronous online focus groups in health research. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 11(4), 369-383. Retrieved from http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/160940691201100405

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