Christina Dobson
Public & private accounts of help-seeking: The implications of research methods on the presentation of narratives
Dobson, Christina; Russell, Andrew; Brown, Sally; Rubin, Greg
Abstract
For people with symptoms that could indicate cancer, prompt presentation to a health care practitioner facilitates early diagnosis, improves survival, and is encouraged by public health agencies and cancer charities. Nevertheless, time to presentation from symptom onset (the patient interval) is known to vary widely. We report findings from a mixed-methods study examining help-seeking among people with symptoms of lung or colorectal cancer. Patients referred for urgent investigation were invited to complete a questionnaire about their symptoms and help-seeking experiences; 26 of these participants then took part in a semi-structured interview. Discrepant accounts of help-seeking were reported through the different research methods, with longer ‘patient intervals’ reported in interviews. We use the concept of ‘public and private accounts’ to reflect upon why socially conforming accounts of early presentation were presented in the questionnaires, whilst accounts of longer ‘patient intervals’ tended to be presented within an interview encounter.
Citation
Dobson, C., Russell, A., Brown, S., & Rubin, G. (2022). Public & private accounts of help-seeking: The implications of research methods on the presentation of narratives. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 25(4), 483-493. https://doi.org/10.1080/13645579.2021.1904116
Journal Article Type | Article |
---|---|
Acceptance Date | Mar 12, 2021 |
Online Publication Date | Mar 23, 2021 |
Publication Date | 2022 |
Deposit Date | Oct 11, 2021 |
Publicly Available Date | Sep 23, 2022 |
Journal | International Journal of Social Research Methodology |
Print ISSN | 1364-5579 |
Electronic ISSN | 1464-5300 |
Publisher | Taylor and Francis Group |
Peer Reviewed | Peer Reviewed |
Volume | 25 |
Issue | 4 |
Pages | 483-493 |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1080/13645579.2021.1904116 |
Public URL | https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1231154 |
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Copyright Statement
This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in International Journal of Social Research Methodology on 23 March 2021, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/13645579.2021.1904116
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