Qualitative Research Design–How Mothers Make Food Choices for Their Pre-School Children

How Mothers Make Food Choices for Their Preschool Children
Student’s Full Name
Walden University
Course Number, Section, and Title
(Example: NURS 3150 Section 01, Foundations of Nursing Research)
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How Mothers Make Food Choices for Their Preschool Children
Purpose of study:
Research Design

Audrey Walsh, Marilyn MacDonald, and Donna Meagher-Stewart used a qualitative research design to determine how mothers make decisions on the food choices for preschool children. Researchers conducted interviews with mothers to gather relevant information that can help in answering their research questions. They found out that the food choices that mothers make for their children significantly affect the health of these young people. By using the constructivist grounded theory, researchers came up with a substantive theory that explained how mothers made food choices for their children. Besides, persistent optimizing was the substantive theory that consisted of three primary categories that include strategic positioning, acknowledging contextual constraints, and stretching boundaries (Walsh, Meagher-Stewart, & Macdonald, 2015).

Sample Selection

Researchers found out that food choices have become complicated in the current obesogenic environment. They conducted thirty-five interviews with 18 mothers with preschool children (Walsh, Meagher-Stewart, & Macdonald, 2015). At this juncture, Walsh, Meagher-Stewart, and McDonald wanted to acquire relevant first-hand information that would enable them to determine factors that affected mothers’ food choices for their children. Many mothers of preschool children made it clear that an obesity-producing environment was the most significant thing they considered when making food choices to promote the health of their children. Consequently, conducting interviews enabled mothers to gather relevant information on how to feed their young ones.

Data Collection Methods

Researchers gathered data from the face-to-face interviews with mothers with preschool children. Additionally, relevant information was obtained from semi-structured interviews some of which were conducted over the phone...