Weaving the web

Negotiating context and theory to form coherent qualitative health research

Bibliographic Data

ID19225018
AuthorsOliver Birch (0000-0002-8093-4537, University of Auckland, corresponding author)
Year2026
Volume24
Issue1
Publication date2026-05-13
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSocial Theory & Health (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1477-8211 • E-ISSN: 1477-822X
PublisherPalgrave Macmillan (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1057/s41285-026-00253-0
OpenAlexW7161003535
LanguageEN
References cited17

Through a novel analogy, this article suggests how one might undertake coherent and defensible qualitative health research. It is argued that prospective researchers might create their methodological framework as a spider forms its foundational ‘dry lines’; the logic of their study may develop when each previous step informs the next, and each is also informed by the overall needs of the research. Though the spider cannot ‘envision’ its final product while it is weaving, it is through an iterative process that its work achieves coherency and therefore functionality. Similarly, researchers must negotiate changing research contexts, theory, personal motivations, and various challenges, building–but also cutting–dry lines, constantly refining their project to ensure that it eventually ensnares its prey–findings which might answer the research’s question(s). This article details how an Institutional Ethnography of a healthcare organisation developed in this way, to demonstrate how one might undertake their own coherent inquiry

Context (archaeology) · Ethnography · Health care · Negotiation · Process (computing) · Qualitative research · Weaving · Focus Groups and Qualitative Methods · Health Policy Implementation Science · Qualitative Research Methods and Ethics

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Open DOIOpen Access