Abstract

PURPOSE
This study was to examine the trend of qualitative study published by Korean Journal of Adult Nursing from 1989 to 2011, and to suggest future directions through identifying its strength and weakness.
METHODS
Ninety one published qualitative studies were analyzed focusing on research methodology and research themes using descriptive statistics.
RESULTS
During the last 22 years, the number of qualitative studies has rapidly increased and the methodology used to analyze qualitative data has been diversified. The most frequently used analytic method was a phenomenology (48.4%) and the frequency of conducting a content analysis has increased. The prevailing data collection settings were community (61.5%), followed by hospital (35.2%). Especially, many researches showed specific description on researcher's efforts to get validity and reliability of studies in individual studies presented within recent 10 years. However, it was noted that meta study using mixed methodology and secondary analysis of qualitative studies are rarely used and need to be facilitated.
CONCLUSION
Nursing Researchers utilizing qualitative research should continuously make efforts to increase the validity and reliability of their studies and to find knowledges or strategies applicable to practice through using mixed methods or secondary analysis of individual studies.