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Pre-research stage
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The primary researcher's (hereafter AA) professional role as a psychiatrist for people with intellectual disability has included acting as a health advocate. She has witnessed patients with intellectual disability receiving poor quality care for physical health problems. This experience, alongside general concerns about inequalities in health care access, influenced the research questions and the study design. |
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Data collection
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The use of dyads made it more challenging to recruit participants as both the patient and their carer were required to take part |
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Managing interviews where the carer was present at the patient's interview, presented some challenges. Some carers were keen to voice their opinion, and this may have deterred some patients with intellectual disability from volunteering information. |
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AA was very mindful of the possibility of a power imbalance between herself and participants, particularly given her professional background. She tried to ensure that her approach was non-judgemental and emphasised that she was in no way responsible for participants' clinical care |
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AA's background as a female of South Asian background had some advantages. She was able to recruit people from South Asian backgrounds who may not normally have participated in research. Being female allowed many women to talk freely and openly to her, which they may not have done if the interviewer was male. Conversely, some males (particularly from South Asian communities) were more reluctant to talk to her, possibly because of cultural factors relating to the disapproval of females and males mixing. In addition, AA's prior personal knowledge of some of the issues that affect South Asians may have resulted in less attention being paid to these issues |
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In the interviews with patients with intellectual disabilities, frequently closed questions were used due to the difficulty of eliciting responses using open ended questions. Throughout AA had to be conscious of the possibility of suggestibility and acquiescence bias |
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Analysis and interpretation
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There were differences in opinion within the research team about the nature of themes identified. The team were able to reach a consensus following discussion |
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There is likely to be some subjectivity in the analysis and interpretation of the data resulting from personal experience, biases and assumptions of the researchers |
