title: [Preliminarily application of content analysis to qualitative nursing data].
abstract: Content analysis is a methodology for objectively and systematically studying the content of communication in various formats. Content analysis in nursing research and nursing education is called qualitative content analysis. Qualitative content analysis is frequently applied to nursing research, as it allows researchers to determine categories inductively and deductively. This article examines qualitative content analysis in nursing research from theoretical and practical perspectives. We first describe how content analysis concepts such as unit of analysis, meaning unit, code, category, and theme are used. Next, we describe the basic steps involved in using content analysis, including data preparation, data familiarization, analysis unit identification, creating tentative coding categories, category refinement, and establishing category integrity. Finally, this paper introduces the concept of content analysis rigor, including dependability, confirmability, credibility, and transferability. This article elucidates the content analysis method in order to help professionals conduct systematic research that generates data that are informative and useful in practical application.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing, National Taipei University of Nursing and Health Sciences, Republic of China. shuyuan@ntunhs.edu.tw
authors.forename: Shu-Yuan
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.forename: Yeu-Hui
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Chuang
authors.forename: Shu-Fang
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Wu
mesh_terms: D003142:Communication; D006801:Humans; D015399:Nursing Research / Q000379:methods*; D036301:Qualitative Research