The World Café as a data collection method in qualitative research in positive psychology

Abstract

The dialogue emerging from a more positivistic paradigm is how approaches, other than the traditional ones, can be used to gather rich data (Schieffer, Isaacs, & Gyllenpalm, 2004), for example the World Café (WC) dialogue method. WC is a dialogue-based method and the process brings together participants’ knowledge and personal experience with the potential to ensure that these conversations are productive and provide rich data and insights into the discussed topic (Lewis, 2016). There is also a need to involve research participants more actively and in a positive way in order to generate richer data. Such active involvement will promote an equal relationship between researchers and participants, showing the respect that is an ethical responsibility (Estacio & Karic, 2015). The World Café was used in this study as a qualitative method to gather and validate data and to add to the body of knowledge regarding the WC method and specifically in a positive paradigm, focusing on resilience as the core construct. The challenge of collecting and analysing the data in a WC-meaningful way, can lead to researchers using the method in other contexts and with solution-focused approaches. The objective of the study to explore the use of the World Café as a method for data collection and data analysis on the topic of resilience, involving fourth-year BCur and postgraduate nursing students at a Higher Education Institution, was reached and five categories or themes about resilience were identified, namely: the view of 1) resilience; 2) intrapersonal strengths/positive self-care; 3) managing to stay compassionate and how to bring back compassion; 4) how to maintain resilience in the workplace and how resilience can be improved; 5) work well-being and challenges/factors in the workplace hindering resilience. The research and findings were presented as a chapter (Data Analysis: The World Café) in a research handbook: Nursing Research Using Data Analysis, Qualitative Designs and Methods in Nursing.