Qualitative analysis methods in peer-reviewed research

Baker, a., Morrison, J., & Coffey, S. (2011). Using prolonged exposure to treat abortion-Related

posttraumatic stress disorder in alcohol dependent men: A case study. Clin Case Study 10(6), 427-439. doi: 10.1177/1534650111429376

In this article the researchers examine male attitudes to the news that their partners have had abortions. It is a case study that focuses on a 46-year-old male who experienced posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in response to his partner's abortion. The patient, who also experienced alcohol dependence and was in a residential treatment program for substance abuse at the time of the study, received 12 sessions of Prolonged Exposure therapy to deal with the impact of the PTSD. At the conclusion of those sessions, the patient saw a significant decrease in his PTSD symptoms. The researchers concluded that Prolonged Exposure, which is an established treatment for PTSD, is effective in treating abortion-related PTSD.

Critical Review

Overall, the article provided a good qualitative approach to the efficacy of Prolonged Exposure for the treatment of PTSD in male whose partners have had abortions. As a case study, it focused on the results for a single individual, but the researchers did provide some quantitative support for their conclusions, in the form of tests measuring PTSD symptoms.

The research article was not organized like most research articles; the authors did not break it down into the expected sections. Therefore, there was no section labeled "results." Instead, the results were contained in a section labeled "course of treatment and assessment of progress." That section was written as a cohesive essay that moved fluidly from a description of the patient's presenting systems into how the patient responded to treatment. This is an unorthodox approach to the presentation of results in a research article. However, the case study format and the fact that the results were individualized made the presentation of results seem very appropriate for a case-study type of qualitative method research.

The researchers did connect the results to general research questions or goals. The overarching research goal was whether Prolonged Exposure, which had proven effective in treating PTSD, would be an effective treatment for PTSD that resulted from a partner's abortion. Moreover, the research specifically examined PTSD in a patient with comorbid alcoholism so that the relationship between substance abuse and PTSD was an important part of the results.

Because the research is a case study, the question of whether the writer presented sufficient examples to support the conclusion is not entirely appropriate. The point of a case study, like much qualitative research, is not to definitively answer research questions, but frequently to explore venues of research. The research was sufficient to support having a quantitative study that explores the use of Prolonged Exposure vs. other types of therapies in the treatment of substance-abusing males experiencing PTSD because of a partner's abortion. Furthermore, the researchers' results were that the treatment modality was promising for that condition, which was sufficiently supported by the case study.