Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-r5fsc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T09:18:55.508Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

9 - Qualitative Approaches to the Study of Substance and Behavioral Addictions

from Part II - Clinical and Research Methods in the Addictions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 July 2020

By
Kelsey A. Simpson  and
Ricky N. Bluthenthal
Edited by
Steve Sussman
Steve Sussman
Affiliation:
University of Southern California
Get access

Summary

This chapter provides an overview of qualitative research methods in substance and behavioral addictions research and practice. It discusses the nature and importance of qualitative methodologies in iterating how individual perspectives, social meanings, and lived experiences impact the nature of substance and behavioral addictions. Methods addressed include ethnography, participant and nonparticipant observation, qualitative interviews, focus groups, and participatory action research (PAR), and empirical evidence in the context of addictions is provided. Additionally, a brief summary of each method and generally understood advantages and disadvantages of each are given. Data analysis techniques covered include grounded theory, narrative and discourse analysis, and thematic analysis. Lastly, major contributions to the field of addictions regarding research on hard-to-reach and marginalized populations, evaluating treatment and intervention services, measuring risk behaviors, investigating barriers to treatment programs, conceptualizing motivational and emotional components of addiction, and aiding in the formation of diagnostic criterion are reviewed.

Keywords

qualitative methodsethnographyobservationinterviewsfocus groupsparticipatory actiongrounded theorynarrativediscoursethematic analysis
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Substance and Behavioral Addictions , pp. 106 - 118
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Adelman, C. (1993). Kurt Lewin and the origins of action research. Educational Action Research, 1(1), 7–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Agar, M. (1973). Ripping and Running: A Formal Ethnography of Urban Heroin Users. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Agar, M. (1986). Speaking of Ethnography (Volume 2). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Angrosino, M. (2007). Doing Ethnographic and Observational Research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bamber, D., Cockerill, I. M., Rodgers, S. & Carroll, D. (2000). “It's exercise or nothing”: A qualitative analysis of exercise dependence. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 34(6), 423–430.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Becker, H. S. (1953). Becoming a marihuana user. American Journal of Sociology, 59 (3), 235–242.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bernard, H. R. & Bernard, H. R. (2013). Social Research Methods: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Bourgois, P. (1995). In Search of Respect: Selling Crack in El Barrio. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Bourgois, P. (2000). Disciplining addictions: The bio-politics of methadone and heroin in the United States. Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry, 24(2), 165–195.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bourgois, P., Martinez, A., Kral, A., et al. (2006). Reinterpreting ethnic patterns among white and African American men who inject heroin: A social science of medicine approach. PLoS Medicine, 3(10), e452.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Binde, P. (2016). Gambling-related embezzlement in the workplace: A qualitative study. International Gambling Studies, 16(3), 391–407.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blumenthal, J. A., O'Toole, L. C. & Chang, J. L. (1984). Is running an analogue of anorexia nervosa?: An empirical study of obligatory running and anorexia nervosa. JAMA, 252(4), 520–523.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bruce, A., Beuthin, R., Sheilds, L., Molzahn, A. & Schick-Makaroff, K. (2016). Narrative research evolving: Evolving through narrative research. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 15(1), 1609406916659292.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bryman, A. (2017). Quantitative and qualitative research: Further reflections on their integration. In: Brannen, J. (Ed.), Mixing Methods: Qualitative and Quantitative Research. London: Routledge, pp. 57–78.Google Scholar
Burton, D. (2004). Community-based participatory research on smoking cessation among Chinese Americans in Flushing, Queens, New York City. Journal of Inter-professional Care, 18, 443–445.Google ScholarPubMed
Cornelius, T., Earnshaw, V. A., Menino, D., Bogart, L. M. & Levy, S. (2017). Treatment motivation among caregivers and adolescents with substance use disorders. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 75, 10–16.Google Scholar
Creswell, J. W. (2013). Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design: Choosing among Five Approaches (3rd edition). Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Cripps, B. (1995). Exercise addiction and chronic fatigue syndrome: Case study of a mountain biker. Exercise Addiction: Motivation for Participation in Sport and Exercise. Leicester: The British Psychological Society, pp. 22–33.Google Scholar
Curtis, C. & Davis, C. (2014). A qualitative study of binge eating and obesity from an addiction perspective. Eating Disorders, 22(1), 19–32.Google Scholar
Czarniawska, B. (2004). Narratives in Social Science Research. Sage.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
De Quincey, T. (2013). Confessions of an English Opium-Eater and Other Writings. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Denzin, N. K. & Lincoln, Y. S. (Eds.). (2011). The Sage Handbook of Qualitative Research. Sage.Google Scholar
Dingle, G. A., Cruwys, T. & Frings, D. (2015). Social identities as pathways into and out of addiction. Frontiers in Psychology, 6, 1795.Google Scholar
Dittmar, H. (2001). Impulse buying in ordinary and “compulsive” consumers. In Weber, E. U., Baron, J. & Loomes, G. (Eds.), Cambridge Series on Judgement and Decision Making. Conflict and Tradeoffs in Decision Making.  New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, pp. 110–135.Google Scholar
Dhuffar, M. K. & Griffiths, M. D. (2015). Understanding conceptualisations of female sex addiction and recovery using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Psychology Research, 5(10), 585–603.Google Scholar
Engels, F. (2005). The condition of the working class in England. In: Michael Purdy & David Banks (Eds.) The Sociology and Politics of Health. London: Routledge, pp. 22–27.Google Scholar
Flick, U. (2013). The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Data Analysis. Sage.Google Scholar
Garcia, V. & Gonzalez, L. (2011). Participatory research challenges in drug abuse studies among transnational Mexican migrants. The Open Anthropology Journal, 4, 3–11. http://doi.org/10.2174/1874912701104010003Google Scholar
Gardner, S. (2004). Participatory action research helps now. The Education Digest, 70 (3), 51.Google Scholar
Glaser, B. G. & Strauss, A. L. (1967). The Discovery of Grounded Theory: Strategies for Qualitative Research. New York: Aldine.Google Scholar
Geraghty, J. (2012). Smoking behaviour and interaction: The observation process in research. British Journal of Nursing, 21(5), 286–291. doi:10.12968/bjon.2012.21.5.286CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gergen, K. J. & Gergen, M. M. (1983). The social construction of helping relationships. New Directions in Helping, 1, 143–163.Google Scholar
Gewurtz, R., Moll, S., Poole, J. M. & Gruhl, K. R. (2016). Qualitative research in mental health and mental illness. In: O. Karin, A. Richard & Z. Izabela (Eds.) Handbook of Qualitative Health Research for Evidence-Based Practice. New York, NY: Springer, pp. 203–223.Google Scholar
Graham, M. D., Young, R. A., Valach, L. & Alan Wood, R. (2008). Addiction as a complex social process: An action theoretical perspective. Addiction Research & Theory, 16(2), 121–133.Google Scholar
Green, A. R., Larkin, M. & Sullivan, V. (2009). Oh stuff it! The experience and explanation of diet failure: An exploration using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Journal of Health Psychology, 14 (7), 997–1008.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Haralson, D. (2013). Grief reactions to drug loss: A grounded theory approach.  Doctoral dissertation, Colorado State University Libraries.Google Scholar
Howard, M., McMillen, C., Nower, L., et al. (2002). Denial in addiction: Toward an integrated stage and process model – Qualitative findings. Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, 34(4), 371–382.Google Scholar
Jamshed, S. (2014). Qualitative research method – Interviewing and observation. Journal of Basic and Clinical Pharmacy, 5(4), 87–88. http://doi.org/10.4103/0976-0105.141942CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jones, S. (1985). Depth Interviewing: Applied Qualitative Research. Aldershot, UK: Gower, pp. 45–55.Google Scholar
Kelly, P. J. (2005). Practical suggestions for community interventions using participatory action research. Public Health Nursing, 22: 65–73. doi: 10.1111/j.0737-1209.2005.22110Google Scholar
Klausner, M. & Hasselbring, B. (1990). Aching for Love: The Sexual Drama of the Adult Child: Healing Strategies for Women. San Francisco: Harper.Google Scholar
Koch, T., Selim, P. & Kralik, D. (2002). Enhancing lives through the development of a community-based participatory action research program. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 11, 109–117.Google Scholar
Kougiali, Z. G., Fasulo, A., Needs, A. & Van Laar, D. (2017). Planting the seeds of change: Directionality in the narrative construction of recovery from addiction. Psychology & Health, 32(6), 639–664.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lankenau, S. E., Teti, M., Silva, K., et al. (2012). Initiation into prescription opioid misuse amongst young injection drug users. International Journal of Drug Policy, 23(1), 37–44.Google Scholar
Latuskie, K. A., Andrews, N. C., Motz, M., et al. (2019). Reasons for substance use continuation and discontinuation during pregnancy: A qualitative study. Women and Birth, 32(1), e57–e64.Google Scholar
Li, W., O’Brien, J. E., Snyder, S. M. & Howard, M. O. (2015). Characteristics of internet addiction/pathological internet use in U.S. university students: A qualitative-method investigation. PLoS ONE, 10(2), e0117372. http://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0117372CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lima-Rodríguez, J. S., Guerra-Martín, M. D., Domínguez-Sánchez, I. & Lima-Serrano, M. (2015). Alcoholic patients’ response to their disease: Perspective of patients and family. Revista Latino-Americana de Enfermagem, 23(6), 1165–1172. http://doi.org/10.1590/0104-1169.0516.2662CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lindesmith, A. R. (1947). Opiate Addiction. Principia Press.Google Scholar
Maher, L. (1997). Sexed Work: Gender, Race, and Resistance in a Brooklyn Drug Economy. Oxford: Clarendon.Google Scholar
Martin, A. & Stenner, P. (2004). Talking about drug use: What are we (and our participants) doing in qualitative research? International Journal of Drug Policy, 15, 395–405.Google Scholar
Mars, S. G., Bourgois, P., Karandinos, G., Montero, F. & Ciccarone, D. (2014). “Every ‘never’I ever said came true”: Transitions from opioid pills to heroin injecting. International Journal of Drug Policy, 25(2), 257–266.Google Scholar
Mason, J. (1996). Qualitative Researching. Sage.Google Scholar
Mathur, M. (2009). Socialisation of street children in India: A socio-economic profile. Psychology and Developing Societies, 21(2), 299–325.Google Scholar
Mendenhall, T., Harper, P., Stephenson, H. & Santo Haas, G. (2011). The SANTA Project (Students against Nicotine and Tobacco Addiction): Using community-based participatory research to reduce smoking in a high-risk young adult population. Action Research, 9(2), 199-213.Google Scholar
Miles, M. & Huberman, A. (1994). Qualitative Data Analysis: An Expanded Source Book. Sage.Google Scholar
Moskalewicz, M. (2016). Lived time disturbances of drug addiction therapy newcomers: A qualitative, field phenomenology case study at Monar-Markot Center in Poland. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 14(6), 1023–1038. doi:10.1007/s11469-016-9680-4Google Scholar
Neale, J., Allen, D. & Coombes, L. (2005). Qualitative research methods within the addictions. Addiction, 100, 1584–1593. doi:10.1111/j.1360-0443.2005.01230Google Scholar
Neale, J., Nettleton, S. & Pickering, L. (2014). Gender sameness and difference in recovery from heroin dependence: A qualitative exploration. International Journal of Drug Policy, 25 (1), 3–12.Google Scholar
Neale, J., Shepard, L. & Tompkins, C. N. E. (2007). Factors that help injecting drug users to access and benefit from services: A qualitative study. Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy, 2, 31.Google Scholar
Needle, R. H., Coyle, S., Cesari, H., et al. (1998). HIV risk behaviors associated with the injection process: Multiperson use of drug injection equipment and paraphernalia in injection drug user networks. Substance Use & Misuse, 33(12), 2403–2423.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nichter, M., Quintero, G., Nichter, M., Mock, J. & Shakib, S. (2004). Qualitative research: contributions to the study of drug use, drug abuse, and drug use (r)-related interventions. Substance Use & Misuse, 39(10–12), 1907–1969.Google Scholar
Nurani, L. (2008). Critical review of ethnographic approach. Jurnal Sosioteknologi, 7(14), 441–447.Google Scholar
Ogden, J., Veale, D. & Summers, Z. (1997). The development and validation of the Exercise Dependence Questionnaire. Addiction Research, 5(4), 343–355.Google Scholar
Orosz, J. (1997). Qualitative Data Analysis: An Expanded Sourcebook (2nd edition). Public Administration Review, 57(6), 543.Google Scholar
Parkin, S. (2015). Colliding intervention in the spatial management of street-based injecting and drug-related litter within settings of public convenience (UK). Space and Polity, 1–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Preble, E. & Casey, J. J. (1969). Taking care of business – The heroin user's life on the street. International Journal of the Addictions, 4(1), 1–24.Google Scholar
Reinarman, C. (2005). Addiction as accomplishment: The discursive construction of disease. Addiction Research & Theory, 13(4), 307–320.Google Scholar
Rhodes, T. & Coomber, R. (2010). Qualitative methods and theory in addictions research. In: Miller, G., Strang, J. & Miller, P. (Eds.), Addiction Research Methods. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, pp. 59–78.Google Scholar
Rhodes, T. & Moore, D. (2001). On the qualitative in drugs research: Part one. Addiction Research & Theory, 9(4), 279–297.Google Scholar
Ronel, N. & Libman, G. (2003). Eating disorders and recovery: Lessons from Overeaters Anonymous. Clinical Social Work Journal, 31, 155–171.Google Scholar
Rossol, J. (2001). The medicalization of deviance as an interactive achievement: The construction of compulsive gambling. Symbolic Interaction, 24(3), 315–341. doi:10.1525/si.2001.24.3.315Google Scholar
Russell-Mayhew, S., von Ranson, K. M. & Masson, P. C. (2010). How does Overeaters Anonymous help its members? A qualitative analysis. European Eating Disorders Review, 18, 33–42.Google Scholar
Sachs, M. L. & Pargman, D. (1979). Running addiction: A depth interview examination. Journal of Sport Behavior, 2(3), 143–155.Google Scholar
Saldanha, K., D’Souza, B. & Madangopal, D. (2018). “It’s only a game of chance”: A portrait of gambling among street children in Mumbai. Journal of Adolescent Research, 33(6), 699–724.Google Scholar
Schensul, J. J., Chandran, D., Singh, S. K., et al. (2010). The use of qualitative comparative analysis for critical event research in alcohol and HIV in Mumbai, India. AIDS and Behavior, 14(Supplement 1), S113–S125. doi:10.1007/s10461-010-9736-6Google Scholar
Schneider, J. A., O'Leary, A. & Jenkins, S. R. (1995). Gender, sexual orientation, and disordered eating. Psychology and Health, 10(2), 113–128.Google Scholar
Seale, C. (1999). Grounding theory. The Quality of Qualitative Research, 87–105.Google Scholar
Seheult, C. (1995). Hooked on the “buzz”: history of a bodybuilding addict. Exercise Addiction: Motivation for Participation in Sport and Exercise. Leicester: The British Psychological Society, pp. 40–44.Google Scholar
Shannon, K., Bright, V., Allinott, S., et al. (2007). Community-based HIV prevention research among substance-using women in survival sex work: The Maka Project Partnership. Harm Reduction Journal, 4(1), 20.Google Scholar
Shefrin, H. M. & Thaler, R. H. (1988). The behavioral life‐cycle hypothesis. Economic Inquiry, 26(4), 609–643.Google Scholar
Simmons, J. (2006). The interplay between interpersonal dynamics, treatment barriers, and larger social forces: An exploratory study of drug-using couples in Hartford, CT. Substance Abuse Treatment and Prevention Policy, 1, 12. doi:10.1186/1747-597x-1-12CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Simmons, J. & McMahon, J. M. (2012). Barriers to drug treatment for IDU couples: The need for couple-based approaches. Journal of Addictive Diseases, 31(3), 242–257. doi:10.1080/10550887.2012.702985CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Simmons, J. & Singer, M. (2006). I love you … and heroin: Care and collusion among drug-using couples. Substance Abuse Treatment and Prevention Policy, 1, 7. doi:10.1186/1747-597x-1-7Google Scholar
Simmons, J., Rajn, S. & McMahon, J. M. (2012). Retrospective accounts of injection initiation in intimate partnerships. International Journal of Drug Policy, 23, 303–311.Google Scholar
Smith, B. (2016). Narrative analysis. Analysing Qualitative Data in Psychology, 2, 202–221.Google Scholar
Sterk, C. (2008). Fast Lives: Women Who Use Crack Cocaine. Temple University Press.Google Scholar
Strauss, A. & Corbin, J. (1990). Basics of Qualitative Research. Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Tsark, J. (2001). A participatory research approach to address data needs in tobacco use among Native Hawaiians. Asian American/Pacific Islander Journal of Health, 9, 40–48.Google Scholar
Wan, C. S. & Chiou, W. B. (2006). Why are adolescents addicted to online gaming? An interview study in Taiwan. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 9(6), 762–776.Google Scholar
Woo, J., Bhalerao, A., Bawor, M., et al. (2017). “Don’t Judge a Book Its Cover”: A qualitative study of methadone patients' experiences of stigma. Substance Abuse: Research and Ttreatment, 11, 1178221816685087. doi:10.1177/1178221816685087Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×