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A First Qualitative Project: Qualitative Descriptive Design for Novice Researchers

Joan K. Magilvy and Eileen Thomas

Column Editor: Anne Marie Kotzer

Scientific Inquiry provides a forum to facilitate the ongoing
process of questioning and evaluating practice, presents informed
practice based on available data, and innovates new practices
through research and experimental learning.
What and Why Qualitative Research?
Clinically, expert pediatric nurses have a wealth of expe-
rience working with children and families during difficult
life transitions and a variety of health and illness conditions.
Whereas the literature is replete with evidence on which to
base practice, the data do not always tell the full story. Do you
wonder about the lived experiences of children and families
for whom you provide care? Do the children and families in
your practice have a voice in their care planning that allows
expression of their hopes, dreams, and fears? Maybe you
have collected a notebook full of potential research questions
or you and your colleagues have discussed concerns about
a challenging patient situation. Table 1 provides examples
of potential topics and questions suitable for a qualitative
descriptive study.
Qualitative research is a tool that can assist nurses to
answer these and other probing questions about the human
experience of health, illness, healing, and dying, or develop-
ment of supportive, effective care delivery and environ-
ments. The power of qualitative inquiry is immense in ability
to open human experience to description. Yet qualitative
research has its own mystique and many nurses believe that
qualitative designs are too difficult and time-consuming and,
thus, out of reach for novice researchers or those without
advanced education.
What is qualitative research? Qualitative research is
inquiry in the natural setting, an exploratory study of
experience-as-lived and everyday life in the world. The goal
of a qualitative study is “to produce a rich description and
in-depth understanding of the phenomenon of interest, the
cultural or lived experience of people in natural settings”
(Magilvy, 2003, p. 123). In a qualitative study, the researcher is
the instrument of research, meaning data are generated by
asking questions in personal interviews or focus groups,
making observations and recording notes, possibly partici-
pating in an event and reflecting on this participation, or
taking photographs. Questions are usually open-ended, and
the researcher tries to acknowledge, then set aside, precon-
ceived ideas about the answers to the question. Qualitative
research data are usually text data, narratives, and stories told
by people about their experiences recorded digitally, on tape,
on film, or in photographs, or in notes taken by the
researcher. These data are then examined descriptively to
notice similarities and differences in the data, categories, pat-
terns, and themes that are then described and sometimes
interpreted to provide a rich description of the experience-
as-lived.
A research design indicates the full research process from
conceptualization of the research problem, generation of
data, analysis and interpretation of findings, and dissemina-

Table 1. Examples of Potential Topics and Questions for Qualitative Descriptive Studies

Examples of Potential Topics Examples of Potential Questions

• Chronic diseases
• Children with a terminal illness
• Parenting a sick child
• Care environments
• Cost-effective interventions
• Care outcomes
What is it like to be a 10-year-old with a new diagnosis of Type I diabetes?
What are the experiences of families managing the daily life of a school-age child with
Duchene’s Muscular Dystrophy?
What are the dreams for the future of children with potentially limited time to live?
What is the nature of support provided to families with terminally ill children?
How does a parent describe the journey of parenting a sick newborn?
What care environment is the most supportive for children and families for whom
English is a second language?
Do the most cost-effective interventions support factors perceived to enhance quality
of life for families?

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doi: 10.1111/j.1744-6155.2009.00212.x Journal Compilation © (2009), Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
tion of results. Perhaps you have heard of qualitative designs
such as phenomenology, ethnography, narrative inquiry,
grounded theory, and others. It is true that these designs
are fairly complex and do require an understanding of the
philosophical and disciplinary underpinnings and specific
methods of data generation and analysis. However, for
novice researchers, one qualitative design stands out as espe-
cially well-suited to produce a positive and successful expe-
rience in this type of research, the Qualitative Descriptive (or
descriptive qualitative) study.
Qualitative Descriptive design is one that is philosophic in
tradition, influenced or informed by one of the major quali-
tative designs mentioned above, yet is limited in scope (e.g.,
research question, sample size, data generation and analysis
methods, and interpretation) to allow a clear description of a
specific phenomenon or experience from the perspective of
the experiencing child or family. Sandelowski (2000) wrote
that the qualitative descriptive design facilitates a “compre-
hensive summary of an event in the everyday terms of those
events” (p. 336). The design provides a wonderful experience
for a first qualitative experience for staff nurses, clinical nurse
specialists, and graduate students, and can stimulate inter-
professional dialogue and research. In the remainder of this
column the foundations of qualitative descriptive design are
described: research question, sampling, methods of data gen-
eration and analysis, and application to practice.
Getting Down to Basics: How Do I Begin?
The research question, of course, is the essential element
to inform all aspects of a study. A qualitative descriptive
question is usually a simple question eliciting responses
within narrow boundaries to facilitate analysis and reflection.
Often the answer takes the form of a single story describing
the participant’s lived experience. For example, how do
grandparents describe the experience of their first visit to the
NICU to see their very ill grandchild? Or what is it like to be
in the “sandwich generation” caring for children and older
parents simultaneously?
The sample for a qualitative descriptive study is often
smaller than in other qualitative designs and is conveniently
and purposively selected. The participants in this type of
research must have several qualifications: They have experi-
enced the phenomenon identified for the study; they must
be able to communicate with the researcher; and they are
willing to tell their stories (usually audio recorded) to a
researcher interested in learning about their experiences. A
typical sample size for a qualitative descriptive study may be
as few as three to five persons, ranging up to about 20 par-
ticipants. One or two focus groups of four to six persons
could also be used. While the upper range would be useful
for publication of this type of research, a small sample can
give the novice researcher an opportunity to practice inter-
JSPN Vol. 14, No. 4, October 2009
viewing and recording skills, become a good listener, and
generate a manageable amount of data. A qualitative descrip-
tive study may be a pilot for future research or may, in itself,
be used to illustrate findings of other research such as a
survey.
Methods of Data Generation and Analysis
On a trip to Japan, I received a beautifully wrapped gift. It
was lovely in the splendor of the rice paper wrapping and
beautiful ribbon. With permission of the giver, I opened this
gift slowly and carefully as I had observed the Japanese
culture to dictate.
Each fold of paper revealed folds underneath until at once
I realized there was a wooden box inside. Opening the
box, I found a carefully wrapped smaller box, covered in
rice paper wrapping and set snugly in the larger box.
Taking the second box in my hands, I carefully and slowly
unwrapped it, to find an object inside wrapped in tissue
thin paper. My curiosity was apparent as I slowly
unwrapped the hidden object, not able to guess what
would be inside. All at once, I began to see a small lac-
quered item – a small shiny lacquered and beautifully
decorated round box with a lid. I was delighted not only
with the gift, but with the experience of receiving, unfold-
ing, and unwrapping as this was part of the honor of
receiving a carefully selected gift. (Magilvy, unpublished
field note, Japan, 2005)
We share this story to illustrate the qualitative research
process. Like my gift, the phenomenon of interest is
unknown at the beginning of the study. We observe that it is
“smaller than a bread box” and may even have some idea of
the boundaries of the phenomenon, but we do not know or
perceive the experience from the perspective of those who
have lived it. The process of qualitative data generation, inter-
viewing, observing, thinking, and reflecting is the outer
wrapping—carefully we peel back the layers and learn to ask
the right questions and then truly listen to the answers. The
box inside the box parallels the process of data analysis,
making sense of a phenomenon and understanding it so we
can describe it from the other’s perspective, and the results of
the analysis do not reveal themselves easily or quickly. Over
time, by reading, re-reading data, listening to audio record-
ings, reviewing field notes, maybe clarifying with partici-
pants what we are learning, the analysis and findings reveal
themselves to us in the form of categories, patterns, and
themes. Such is the journey of qualitative research—an
unfolding and unwrapping to explore and produce new
understandings and rich descriptions.
Organizing and sorting through pages and pages of text
can at first appear daunting to a novice researcher. Using the
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Scientific Inquiry
above analogy of unwrapping a gift, the researcher starts the
analysis process by removing the first layer of wrapping or,
in qualitative terminology, coding. Codes are the repeated
words or phrases of the participants found within and across
the individual texts (Thomas, 2006). The next step in the
analysis process involves “opening the boxes.” These boxes
are your categories. Categories are similar code words and
phrases that have been grouped (“larger box”) and
regrouped (“smaller box”) together to include related con-
cepts. Looking for relationships, the categories are then
resorted into groups of similar content and meaning. This
final small box contains your gift or theme(s). Themes are
identified by reviewing and organizing the categories into
common topics (Thomas, 2006).
Implications for Practice
“How do the results of this study help me care for patients
and does this study help me understand my relationship
with my patients and their families?” (Newman, Thompson,
& Roberts, 2006, p. 4), are two important questions all prac-
titioners should ask, regardless of the method used, when
considering whether to apply new information to their prac-
tices. For example, consider the question: How do grandpar-
ents describe the experience of their first visit to the NICU to
see their very ill grandchild? Grandparents may describe the
experience as “frightening” or “overwhelming.” Grandpar-
ents may tell you the experience left them feeling “inad-
equate.” This notion might lead the practitioner to develop
teaching interventions that address the layout of the unit and
describe ways grandparents can help with the care or a pic-
torial intervention that shows what types of tubes and equip-
ment a child in NICU might have in place.
The results of a qualitative descriptive study can provide
depth to your knowledge of the clinical situation and provide
information useful to develop new interventions. Findings
from a qualitative descriptive study are rich descriptions,
usually expressed in the words of the participants, which
can facilitate a practitioner’s understanding of patients’ and
families’ experiences set within their sociocultural context.
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Qualitative descriptive research in the pediatric setting can
provide the practitioner with a broader and deeper under-
standing of one’s own practice and the patients for whom
they provide care.
Joan K. Magilvy, PhD, RN, FAAN
Professor, Associate Dean for Academic Programs
PhD Program Director
College of Nursing
University of Colorado Denver
Aurora, CO, USA
Eileen Thomas, PhD, RN
Assistant Professor
College of Nursing
University of Colorado Denver
Aurora, CO, USA
Author contact: eileen.thomas@ucdenver.edu and kathy.
magilvy@ucdenver.edu, with a copy to the Editor:
roxie.foster@UCDenver.edu
Search terms: Nursing practice, qualitative descriptive design,
qualitative research
References
Magilvy, J.K. (2003). Qualitative designs. In K.S. Oman, M. Krugman,
& R. Fink (Eds.), Nursing research secrets (pp. 123–128). Philadel-
phia: Hanley & Belfus, Inc.
Newman, M., Thompson, C., & Roberts, A.P. (2006). Helping practi-
tioners understand the contribution of qualitative research to
evidence-based practice. Evidence-based Nursing, 9(1), 4–7.
Sandelowski, M. (2000). Focus on research methods. Whatever hap-
pened to qualitative description? Research in Nursing & Health,
23(4), 334–340.
Thomas, E. (2006). Ring of silence: African American women’s expe-
riences related to their breasts and breast cancer screening. The
Qualitative Report, 11(2), 350–373. Retrieved September 15, 2008,
from http://www.nova.edu/ssss/QR11-2/Thomas.pdf
JSPN Vol. 14, No. 4, October 2009