A convenience sample [32 (link)] of UK resident adults who self-identified as having a formal diagnosis of IBS which had not responded to pharmacological treatments after 12 months and who had developed a continuing symptom profile [29 (link)] and who had never received hypnotherapy for their condition were recruited. Recruitment was via a poster campaign and by contacting IBS self-help groups and Facebook groups. No incentivisation was offered to potential interviewees but compensation for travel costs incurred in attending interviews was available. Both verbal and written consent for the interview were taken, in the case of video interviews verbal consent was obtained prior to the interview and confirmed in writing by post.
Interviews were conducted either in-person or face-to-face via video call. The decision to use mixed interview modes in this piece of research was taken whilst the study was ongoing and was in response to a sudden recruitment influx from internet advertising (Facebook). It was judged important to capitalise upon this influx rapidly due to the possibility of loss of interest by potential interviewees as the result of the time lag.
The transcription started from the point on the interview when the first question was asked by the interviewer. It concluded when the interviewer turned off the recording device, which was done when the answer to the last question was given and the interviewer judged that the interviewee had finished on the topic. Preamble and postamble were unrecorded. The interviewees perceptions of the interview process were not actively sought. Short pauses in speech were not recorded in the transcript, however if a pause was deemed to be unusually long or to denote a higher than average amount of thought an ellipse was inserted. Laughter and audible sighing were recorded with a single word within the transcript but no notes on body language were included.
A two-stage process of coding was undertaken. This process started with open coding [33 (link)]. Open coding involves a close read of the transcript to identify all statements, which are assigned a code. During open coding, codes are generated to fit the statements identified. For example, the statement “it’s got to the point that I know that whenever I’m eating out I know that I‘m going to swell” might generate the code ‘triggers for IBS’, and any subsequent statements regarding ‘triggers for IBS’ would then be assigned to this code. In this way 127 codes were generated. The second stage of the process was to reduce the codes by excluding any not relevant to the topics of interest, for example codes such as ‘non-IBS Life story’, and then amalgamating similar codes into a single code, so ‘massage’, ‘acupuncture’ and ‘meditation’ may all be combined under ‘complementary and alternative medicine (CAM)’. This left 79 codes. These transcripts were then coded again this time using the 79 codes only.
The same topic guide was used for both video call and in-person interviews. The same interviewer (MK) conducted and transcribed all the interviews. The idea to conduct the analysis of the two interview modes did not occur until after the coding had been undertaken. The full protocol of the study is available [26 (link)] as is the full source study [34 (link)].
Interviews were conducted either in-person or face-to-face via video call. The decision to use mixed interview modes in this piece of research was taken whilst the study was ongoing and was in response to a sudden recruitment influx from internet advertising (Facebook). It was judged important to capitalise upon this influx rapidly due to the possibility of loss of interest by potential interviewees as the result of the time lag.
The transcription started from the point on the interview when the first question was asked by the interviewer. It concluded when the interviewer turned off the recording device, which was done when the answer to the last question was given and the interviewer judged that the interviewee had finished on the topic. Preamble and postamble were unrecorded. The interviewees perceptions of the interview process were not actively sought. Short pauses in speech were not recorded in the transcript, however if a pause was deemed to be unusually long or to denote a higher than average amount of thought an ellipse was inserted. Laughter and audible sighing were recorded with a single word within the transcript but no notes on body language were included.
A two-stage process of coding was undertaken. This process started with open coding [33 (link)]. Open coding involves a close read of the transcript to identify all statements, which are assigned a code. During open coding, codes are generated to fit the statements identified. For example, the statement “it’s got to the point that I know that whenever I’m eating out I know that I‘m going to swell” might generate the code ‘triggers for IBS’, and any subsequent statements regarding ‘triggers for IBS’ would then be assigned to this code. In this way 127 codes were generated. The second stage of the process was to reduce the codes by excluding any not relevant to the topics of interest, for example codes such as ‘non-IBS Life story’, and then amalgamating similar codes into a single code, so ‘massage’, ‘acupuncture’ and ‘meditation’ may all be combined under ‘complementary and alternative medicine (CAM)’. This left 79 codes. These transcripts were then coded again this time using the 79 codes only.
The same topic guide was used for both video call and in-person interviews. The same interviewer (MK) conducted and transcribed all the interviews. The idea to conduct the analysis of the two interview modes did not occur until after the coding had been undertaken. The full protocol of the study is available [26 (link)] as is the full source study [34 (link)].
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