The experience of clinician-researchers in occupational therapy

This study examined the experience of occupational therapy clinicians who do research to illuminate factors that influenced their research, the processes involved, and the outcomes. The qualitative approach of grounded theory was used. Purposive sampling of all research-productive clinicians in acute care hospitals in one Australian city occurred. Fifteen clinicians participated in in-depth interviews that explored their experiences of research. Results were analyzed with the constant comparative method, and six conceptual categories were developed. These categories were further analyzed in terms of their relationships, and a core category that explained and synthesized the data was identified—becoming a clinician-researcher. This category encompassed a process of role change during which the person changed from clinician to clinician-researcher. Conditions for this change were identified, and three key concepts were derived to elaborate the core category. In becoming a clinician-researcher, the person was active in (a) identifying research as significant, (b) constructing actions in relation to research, and (c) evaluating the experience. The findings further the understanding of clinician-researchers through the description of their experience and the empirically based theoretical formulation that explains it.