Methods
An exploratory longitudinal qualitative design using face-to-face interviews was used in this study. Such qualitative descriptive research methods as described by Sandelowski[26] draw from the general views of naturalistic inquiry with no a priori commitment to any one theoretical view of the phenomenon being studied.[26] It is a method used to obtain descriptions of phenomena of importance to practitioners and policy makers. In this study, the experience of caregiving was explored, and the participants' descriptions of their experiences were then interpreted and described to convey the meaning the participants attributed to their caregiving experiences. Therefore, the study was not based on any specific theoretical framework.
Cancer Nurs. 2012;35(6):402-410. © 2012 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
