Template Analysis of a Longitudinal Interprofessional Survey: Making Sense of Free-Text Comments Collected Over Time

Authors

Melanie Jane Brown Department of Primary Health Care and General Practice University of Otago, Wellington New Zealand http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2057-4496
Sue Pullon Department of Primary Health Care and General Practice University of Otago, Wellington New Zealand http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0220-5010
Eileen McKinlay Department of Primary Health Care and General Practice University of Otago, Wellington New Zealand http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3333-5723
Lesley Gray Senior Lecturer Department of Primary Health Care and General Practice University of Otago, Wellington New Zealand http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6414-3236
Ben Darlow Associate Professor Department of Primary Health Care and General Practice University of Otago, Wellington New Zealand http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6248-6814

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.22230/jripe.2022v12n1a337

Keywords:

Interprofessional education, longitudinal survey, survey methods, template analysis, free-text analysis

Abstract

Surveys are widely used in interprofessional education (IPE) research and these often collect free-text data. The potential contribution of free-text data to analysis and interpretation is often missed through separate reporting of qualitative and quantitative results, or free-text analyses being superficial or limited to subsets of data. There is little published guidance on how to maximize the use and integration of free-text comments with quantitative responses in large datasets collected over multiple years. Analysis of all qualitative comments, within the context of their related quantitative answers, enables exploration of changes in participants’ construction of meaning over time. This article describes how we used template analysis to analyze 3,626 free-text responses, collected as part of a five-year survey exploring the impact of an IPE program on health professionals’ attitudes to teamwork and early careers. We outline the main procedural steps undertaken by a team of researchers and we share our insights into the methodological challenges encountered. This article aims to inspire other researchers at the planning stage of research proposals, and assist them with practical ideas during data extraction, management, analysis, and reporting of large free-text datasets. We conclude that template analysis has methodologically sound, pragmatic utility in IPE longitudinal survey research

Author Biographies

Melanie Jane Brown, Department of Primary Health Care and General Practice University of Otago, Wellington New Zealand

Melanie Brown (MHealSc(Rehabilitation)) is a Research Fellow in the Department of Primary Health Care and General Practice at the University of Otago, Wellington. Contribution: qualitative data analysis, writing - original draft, writing - review and editing.

Sue Pullon, Department of Primary Health Care and General Practice University of Otago, Wellington New Zealand

Sue Pullon (MPHC) is a Professor of Primary Health Care and General Practice and Director of the University of Otago Centre for Interprofessional Education. Contribution: conception and study design, obtained funding, contribution to coding templates and theme analyses, writing - review and editing.

Eileen McKinlay, Department of Primary Health Care and General Practice University of Otago, Wellington New Zealand

Eileen McKinlay (MA (Appl)) is an Associate Professor in the Department of Primary Health Care and General Practice at the University of Otago, Wellington and Primary Health Care Nurse. She is interprofessional education campus lead for University of Otago, Wellington. Contribution: conception and study design, obtained funding, contribution to coding templates and theme analyses, writing - review and editing.

Lesley Gray, Senior Lecturer Department of Primary Health Care and General Practice University of Otago, Wellington New Zealand

Lesley Gray (MPH, MSc) is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Primary Health Care and General Practice at the University of Otago, Wellington. Contribution: conception and study design, obtained funding, contribution to theme analyses, writing - review and editing.

Ben Darlow, Associate Professor Department of Primary Health Care and General Practice University of Otago, Wellington New Zealand

Ben Darlow (PhD) is an Associate Professor in the Department of Primary Health Care and General Practice at the University of Otago, Wellington and a Musculoskeletal Physiotherapy Specialist. Contribution: Contribution: conception and study design, obtained funding, qualitative data analysis, writing - review and editing.

Corresponding author: Ben Darlow. ben.darlow@otago.ac.nz Department of Primary Care and General Practice, Division of Health Sciences, PO Box 7343, Wellington, NZ, 6242. Phone number +64211565581

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Published

2022-01-18

Issue

Vol. 12 No. 1 (2022)

Section

Articles: Methodology

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