title: Qualitative approaches in occupational therapy research. Previously published in Scandinavian Journal of Occupational Therapy 2012; 19: 521-529.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Development of research in occupational therapy requires a continuous critical discussion concerning methodological approaches. In this paper the authors wish to contribute to such a discussion by introducing the Formal Data-Structure Analysis approach (FDSA) as a method for understanding people's experiences.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A review of selected publications from occupational therapy journals between 2003 and 2005 illustrated that qualitative articles within occupational therapy publications were mainly descriptive in nature. This finding raises questions about how to develop new knowledge that contributes to occupational therapy.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this paper the authors suggest that it is possible to apply the FDSA approach not only when describing and categorizing qualitative phenomena, but also when aiming to reach an in-depth understanding of issues related to human meaning-making; for example, how we understand engagement in occupations or living with a disability. Examples of the application of the FDSA approach are included and discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology, Caring Sciences and Society, Division of Occupational Therapy, Karolinska Institutet , Sweden.
authors.forename: Lena
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Borell
authors.forename: Louise
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Nygård
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Asaba
authors.forename: Anders
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gustavsson
authors.forename: Helena
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hemmingsson
keywords: ethnography; hermeneutics; interpretation; meaning; phenomenology; qualitative analysis