Qualitative Thematic Analysis on Opinions towards Abortion (Essay Sample)

Qualitative Thematic Analysis on Opinions towards Abortion
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Abstract
Opinions towards abortion were investigated in a structured interview. We recruited three participants by convenience sampling and completed the interview. We transcribed and analyzed the interview using thematic analysis. We found four themes from the data: personal effect; religion; culture; diversity of tolerance.
Opinions towards Abortion
The qualitative study aim was to explore the views towards abortion. A research carried out by (Everett Carll Ladd and Karlyn Bowman 1999) investigated people who have performed abortions to discriminate the variables between people who have aborted and those who have not aborted. The results showed that people distaste abortion and see it as something that hurts women.
Personal wellbeing was found out to be crucial for those who wanted to abort a fetus that they deemed dangerous to their well-being. Acceptance by the people around a person who has aborted was found out to be more profound in enabling the individual who has aborted to cope with normal life. People who indicated less acceptance to the individual who has aborted was found out to be an impression that they distasted the process of aborting. Perceived opinions about abortion researched which might determine the views towards abortion were culture, religion, diversity of tolerance, geographical location (Everett Carll Ladd and Karlyn Bowman 1999).
The questionnaire was used to get the opinions about abortion. Acceptance of abortion was identified as taking care of personal life and image. The findings proposed that after abortion a person has more personal image problems, due to the thoughts of killing an innocent fetus; however the public can be more confident about the abortion than the individual who carried it out. Further from this it was affirmed that religion plays a critical role in determining the opinions of people towards abortion. The more a person is religious then they will be more inclined to be against abortion and see it as demeaning and going against the word of God. In this way, their opinions are less likely to fluctuate and develop.
According to data from surveys at AEI and The Ropers Center’s (2012) 53% think that abortion laws should be at national level while 36% say it should be at state level, and 9% are undecided. A significant percentage of people, as shown by the data in the United States, want the abortion laws to be recognized nationwide as compared to those who wish it to be recognized only in States. The research shows that 90% of people have never involved themselves in abortion, and only 7% have had an abortion. In 2007 52 % of people supported the laws to be formed that will oppose abortion; this shows that support for the laws is growing steadily. From the study, 55% of people believed that abortion was not an unfortunate thing to carry out. 64 % of the people interviewed thought that if the life of the mother is in danger then carrying out an abortion was the right thing to do.
Religious identity has also impacted on the opinions of people interviewed with 54% agreeing that abortion is evil. Those identified with no religion 81% agree that abortion should be legalized. When asked why the attitudes has changed based on adherence and non-adherence to religion; better information; tolerance; and people being less controversial were given as the reasons for 56% of Americans believing society will get over it. The response that the poll got from the opinions of people towards abortion could be determined by religion, culture, personal issues, and cultural tolerance (Everett Carll Ladd and Karlyn Bowman 1999).
Method
Participants
We selected three members by a convenience sampling method that involved them completing the interview. Demographics of the participants included student graduates, professional occupations, and community nursing. The convenience sample consisted of three people from different cultures and geographical locations.
Materials and Apparatus
Materials used to carry out the study were the informed consent form, questionnaire, a pen and a video recorder.
Design and procedure
The semi-structured interview carried out involved six predetermined questions and between 2 to 4 unstructured questions that were developed in response to an interviewee’s answers.
Participants who agreed to take part were given standard instructions. The participants were instructed that we were carrying out a qualitative research study in getting the opinion of people about abortion. They were also informed that it required them to be interviewed, and their answers recorded.
The participants participated in the interview individually in a quiet room away from any other persons or materials that would have influenced or aided their response to the questions posed to them. The interview was carried in that manner to ensure that the data collected from the study was reliable. Set time, when the participants will perform the test, was not set; this is because the research could not be fixed by the schedule of the otherwise busy participants. The researchers were the ones to be flexible so that they could fit into the schedule of the participants.
The participants were interviewed on the five questions about their opinions on abortion, and then follow up questions were developed to get more information on the view that they had. The follow-up questions were developed depending on the response that the participants gave. The interviews were recorded by the researcher’s video camera, and their duration lasted between 5 and 7 minutes long.
After taking the recordings, they were transcribed into the computer, and the data sorted into a range of categories and time that they were made. The coding of the data followed a thematic approach that involved identification of themes that reflected the textual data. From the research, four themes were generated that accounted for all the data through the process of topic identification, the process of identification and analytic effort. The data from the interviewers were destroyed after the writing up of the final research report.
Ethics
The research gained informed consent from the participant before being carried out (see Appendices 1 and 2). From the participants who were informed from the beginning about the interview and they accepted to be part of the research that was being carried out. They had a right to withdraw from the interview if they felt it violated their personal space or rights. It was the best way to protect the participants from feeling like they are being harassed or forced to be part of the interview that they did not want. Confidentiality of the information that the participants gave was assured since after the data was analyzed the information was discarded. Throughout the interview, ethical principles and issues were maintained. Ethics principles were observed by informing the participants before the research was carried out and what it was all about for the participants. The psychology department of ethics committee cleared the research study.
Findings
Transcripts with the conclusions were printed off and analyzed systematically by highlighting initial textual coding’s so that the essence of the theme can be captured and briefly summarize the material. The codings were taken and put into categories and actively synthesized with the themes from the interview. The process was critical, and it involved the continual refinement to interpret and formulate the descriptive overarching themes.
Theme 1 Personal Effect
The theme encompasses a variety of data related to a personal effect. Four sub-themes were identified.
1 Moral
2 Personal acceptance
3 Emotions
4 Abortion: agree/ disagree
From the 1st sub-theme, all of the participants agreed that abortion is legal but immoral because it deprives a developing human being life. "Yes legal it is [laughs] but morally wrong" (Appendix 1, line P);
The second sub-theme focused on the personal acceptance of the baby’s condition instead of aborting.
"If it was me I would, I would keep the baby because again it’s still life and just because it doesn’t have the capabilities that any other child would have I would still keep the baby" ( Appendix 3 line 166 and 167)
Sub-theme three emotions participant 1 thinks that a 12-year-old having a baby exerts pressure on her emotionally, and she needs help in taking care of the baby.
"I think with the right support (0.2) if it were my child I would let her carry on with her normal life, I believe that it is important that she’d carry on with her normal life, and I would step in as much as I can" ( Appendix 1 line 117 and 118)
On sub-theme four all the participants agree that abortion should be carried out if the life of the mother or the fetus is in danger. Participant 2 says;
"Abortion could be a bad thing, could be, [wide eyes] meaning that not always, there are acceptations to the rule" (Appendix 1 line p)
Theme 2 Religion
The theme encompasses a variety of data relating to religiosity. Four sub-themes were identified:
1 Influence/ Doesn’t influence
2 Abortion vs. Religions
3 Undermines life
4 Reference to a particular religion
For the 1st sub-theme, all the participants agreed that religion influences the opinion of people towards abortion. Participant two says;
"I am a Christian, Pentecostal. It would also be considered as something bad" (Appendix 3 line p)
According to two participants, they agree that all religions do not accept abortion, and it is considered as something evil. But for the participant (A) it is allowed in their religion.
"My church yes, but not all chu...