Data generation and analysis
Data were generated over 9 months and from three sources:
in-depth interviews, an open-ended questionnaire and two
participatory action research (PAR) mixed-gender research
groups (equalling eight contact hours).
The second author undertook in-depth interviews with the
24 participants and these were informally conducted in
participants’ homes. Guiding questions were: How has
asthma affected your life? Give an example of an incident
or episode with asthma that really affected your life, What
has changed in your life since you were diagnosed with
asthma? What strategies do you employ to manage your
asthma? Where and how did you learn about these strategies?
Is there anything that would help you in the future to manage
your asthma that is not available now? These questions
resulted in the development of a story line for each participant.
In addition, the shape of the story was influenced by
questions of the type ‘look, think and act’ (Stringer 1999).