content of the 27 interviews (i.e. units of analysis)
were read in their entirety a number of times by
two of the authors to develop an impression of the
data content. The overall research question at this
stage was: What does the data as a whole tell us
about the situation of these patients? Notes were
made continuously. Second, specific experiences
of living with gallstone disease and specific
experience after cholecystectomy were identified (i.e. units of
meaning) and extracted for further analysis.