Mixed-Methods Synthesis Research: Strategies for Advancing Family Science
Kathleen A. Knafl, PhD, FAAN
Frances Hill Fox Distinguished Professor
Division of Family Nursing
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA
Dr. Knafl, a sociologist who has spent her entire academic career in nursing, her research addresses family response childhood chronic conditions. For over 30 years she has taught family theory and research methods and mentored both faculty and students interested in family research. She has been a major contributor to the development of the Family Management Style Framework, including development of a structured measure of family management (Family Management Measure – FaMM). Much of her work has involved mixed-methods designs and entailed treating the family/dyad as the unit of analysis.
Description
Dr. Kathleen Knafl serves as Principal Investigator on a large scale mixed-methods Family Synthesis Project funded by the National Institute of Nursing Research at the National Institutes of Health in the United States (1R01NR012445, 09/01/11 – 06/30/16). The project’s objective is to complete syntheses of findings from over 1000 studies on the intersection of family life and childhood chronic physical conditions. Over the summer, the study team launched a website to disseminate findings and information about synthesis research. IFNA members will find the website an extremely useful resource. The site includes reference lists for over 1000 research reports. Lists are organized by both study design (quantitative, qualitative, RCT) and chronic condition. The website address is http://familysynthesis.unc.edu/home. To learn more about the website content and how to navigate it, please join this webinar.
Objectives:
- To present detailed information on a wonderful resource-the Family Synthesis Project Website.
- To describe mixed-methods synthesis research and its potential to advance family science.
- To demonstrate how to navigate the Family Synthesis Project Website to maximize use by IFNA members.
