Demonstrate Your Knowledge and Understanding of the Contribution of Qualitative Research to Psychology Through the Discussion of Published Qualitative Research.

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“A Thematic Analysis of Suicide Notes” by authors Rory C O'Connor, Noel P Sheehy, and Daryl B O’ Connor will be the paper discussed on the contribution of qualitative research to the field of psychology. The paper is a mixed study report relying heavily on both qualitative and quantitative research techniques. In the paper the thematic guide to suicide prediction (TGSP) is applied to suicide notes interpreted in account of coroner’s inquest papers. The study was performed using inquest papers from the HM coroner for greater Belfast during the years 1993 and 1994. The jurisdiction covered a total of three catchment areas in Northern Ireland: greater Belfast, south Antrim and north Down. 142 suicides in total came before the coroner during this period, 54 of which had a suicide note discovered (O’Connor et al, 1999). The general aim of the paper was to use suicide notes in the psychological profiling of suicidal persons. Three research questions were prepared and tested in the study. The first research question, “suicide notes from different age groups would signal different psychological reasons for committing suicide” (O’Connor et al., 1999).The second question “depressed persons committed suicide for different reasons than non-depressed persons” (O’Connor et al, 1999). Finally the question “first time suicides differ psychologically from those with a history of previous attempts” (O’Connor et al, 1999). First of all, to fully understand the contribution of qualitative research to psychology the distinction between quantitative and qualitative research must be acknowledged. Qualitative research is the accumulation analysis and interpretation of what people say, write, and do (Abawi, 2008). Qualitative research is deemed a more investigative method than quantitative as it uses in depth collection techniques such as interviews, observations and focus groups. The

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