S.TRUEMAN PhD THESIS 2016

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the present study. Case study research has inherent limitations surrounding issues of reliability, validity and generalisability. While acknowledging these, the researcher has discussed and addressed these issues earlier in this chapter. Another potential limitation concerns the researcher’s role as the primary instrument for data collection and analysis (Guba & Lincoln, 1981). Researcher bias has been discussed and addressed in this chapter. A limitation of the scope of the study is that mental health patients and significant others (family and friends) were not participants. This does not affect the study’s ability to answer its own aims and questions, as the decision was made early in the study not to interview this group of actors. As the only consumers in the social world, they are a potentially rich source of data and alternative perspectives. This fact justifies further research including mental health consumers within its scope. 10.6 Strengths of the Study A strength of this case study was the involvement of multiple data sources beyond the remote general nurses themselves. It included interviews with health clinicians, non clinicians, managers and other relevant participants, as well as review of relevant documents. This approach contributes diversity to the data and ensures rich, thick descriptions and analysis of the phenomenon. A further strength of the study is the thoroughness of the data analysis. The analysis went beyond thematic analysis: post-thematic situational analysis (Clarke, 2005) was utilised to obtain a deeper and richer analysis of the data. This resulted in the progressive creation of three situational maps: a messy map, an ordered/working map and a relational map. Utilising these three maps, the researcher interrogated the data to create the social world/arena map, consistent with Clarke’s (2005) situational analysis. Actor-network

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