Abstract
In the last decade the qualitative research interview, based on hermeneutic- phenomenological understandig, has become a successfully used method in the Nordic countries, in the study of how persons experience their life-world (Ger. Lebenswelt) in sosial interaction and or in relation to their professions. The essential features of the qualitative research interview and its structural components have been quite well developed in these countries. Various aspects of the interpretation of interview texts have been theoretically analyzed from the hermeneutic-phenomenological viewpoint, and also its validity, reliability and fruitfulness have been carefully and constructively scrutinized. Necessary conditions to stimulate the ‘right’ use of qualitative research interview are, e.g., scientific articles which clearly describe how the method has been successfully applied on, inter alia, mental health and research dealing with public health. In this respect it is desireable to describe 1) how the choice of different strategies and techniques within the domain of qualitative approach are made and and illustrated, by means of concrete examples, and 2) to show how they are systematically and effectively applied in the research process. The purpose of this article should be seen against the background of 1) and 2), i.e., the article purports to show how the qualitative research interview was systematically used in studying psychiatric nurses' professional thoughts, experiences and practices in community psychiatric nursing, a study which attempted to do justice to the attainment of both goals 1) and 2).
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