Reference Article Summary Number 1

  I have to find two sample articles to help me write the qualitative article that I wrote about in this space a few days ago. The first one I found is this one:

A Qualitative Exploration of Shift Work and Employee Well-Being in the US Manufacturing Environment

Summary

This is a qualitative study of shift work in the US manufacturing industry using interviews and focuses groups across several large companies focusing on the National Institute of Occupation Safety and Health's framework of five domains for worker well-being.

The sample includes about 60 total interviews. The study uses the framework to provide their analysis, breaking the results of their interviews into the framework using: (a) workplace policies and climate, (b) physical environment and safety climate, (c) health status, (d) work evaluation and experience,  and (e) home, community, and safety which makes it easy to see how the authors determine their conclusions and analysis. McHugh et al. (2020) admit that a limitation of the study was that their "data collection instrument was not specifically designed to capture perspectives on shift work" (p. 305) however their coding, using both deductive and inductive codes based on new concepts provide confidence to the reader regarding their results.

Types of Data Analysis

The data analysis for this study was both deductive coding and inductive coding based on new concepts found during interviews. McHugh et al. (2020) state that "because the topic of shift work frequently emerged during the interviews and focus groups, we created an inductive code related to the effect of shift work on well-being" (p. 304). The authors also used thematic analysis based on the coding that they apply to help break the data into the framework. This is similar to the type of methodology I propose to use in my own study with qualitative interviews regarding the lived experiences of workers leading to coding for analysis and identifying themes.

Reporting of Findings

McHugh et al. (2020) report their findings broken down by the five dimensions framework that they apply: (a) workplace policies and climate, (b) physical environment and safety climate, (c) health status, (d) work evaluation and experience,  and (e) home, community, and safety. This framework is a good way to help understand and find themes within workers' lived experiences both for the author's work and also in the study I intend to make. They provide numerous quoted excepts from the interviews they conducted.

Scholarly Voice

The authors' voice when writing this article is formal and academic leaving the reader with the impression that they are experts within this field. The challenge I have however is that McHugh et al. (2020) admit their study was that their "data collection instrument was not specifically designed to capture perspectives on shift work" (p. 305) which seems to be a glaring error for a qualitative study on of shift work, but the work does serve to narrow the focus of the study and future studies.

Reference

McHugh, M., Farley, D., & Rivera, A. S. (2020). A qualitative exploration of shift work and employee well-being in the US manufacturing environment. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 62(4), 303–306. https://doi.org/10.1097/JOM.0000000000001823