In evaluating this research, Yardley’s (2000; 2008) procedures for enhancing and demonstrating the quality of qualitative research were applied.
4.3.1 Sensitivity to Context
As noted in the ethical considerations of the study, the unique context of Islam in the West, specifically in the UK, at this time in history was considered throughout the process of this research. The idea of Islam as a sensitive topic in the West and the impact this may have on professionals’ willingness to talk openly about Islam was noted in the literature review and this was considered in the analysis of the latent content in the data. My dual position as both Middle Eastern and ‘colleague’, in the sense of similarly belonging to a professional group, was also considered in terms of how this may have influenced the interview processes and how this may have interacted with my interpretation and analysis of the data. For this reason, the data was heavily used to provide empirical evidence of the interpretations made (Yardley, 2008).
86 4.3.2 Commitment and Rigour
The process of data analysis included hand transcription of all interview data by the
researcher and a repeated process of familiarisation with the transcripts in order to develop and continually refine codes from which themes would be identified. This was done to ensure that the meanings and interpretations were derived from the data, as much as possible, before being associated with theories available from the literature search. This process was
supported and reviewed within research supervision in order to provide a different
perspective on the coherence and strength of the identified themes and to ensure adherence to the process of thematic analysis as outlined by Braun and Clarke (2006). Candidate themes were revisited and adjusted in this process and this process can be seen in Appendix N.
4.3.3 Transparency and Coherence
Transparency of the research was attempted through providing information about the
epistemological position taken in the research process and by providing a detailed outline of the research process and reflective accounts in the Methods chapter. An excerpt into the way the data was coded and how these codes were formed into themes is provided in Appendix L & O to further enhance the transparency of the research process.
Coherence was ensured by using a critical realist approach to thematic analysis, which matched my epistemological position in the research and allowed for participants’
constructions of Islam to be considered widely, as informed by their own relative positions and experiences, before linking this to the existing literature and theories. The interpretation of the data in the analysis was closely linked to the data itself to further ensure this. A
coherent constructed story of the research, linking the literature review to the data was then provided in this Discussion chapter.
4.3.4 Impact and Importance
This study is timely given the dearth of literature considering the impact that the racialisation and politicisation of Islam has had on access to mental health care (Laird et al., 2007) It’s novelty in seeking to provide rich data on how mental health professions develop their
clinical judgements and how this interacts with their clinical practice, holds relevance beyond the construction of Islam. The research’s bravery rests in its seeking to open, and make visible, dialogues about Islam in the professional sphere, where public discourses about Islam remain insidious and contentious. There has been disproportionate focus on barriers to
87 accessing service that lie within service user groups therefore this study has aimed to offer something introspective to professions and professionals in what their role may be in alleviating disparities in care.
4.3.5 Other Methodological Considerations
The majority of professionals interviewed were based in London, which holds much larger Muslim populations and multicultural diversity than other parts of the UK. This increased exposure to religious and cultural diversity was noted in many professionals as a contributor to the way they constructed Islam. References were made by some participants about a striking difference they had noted working in different parts of the UK, notably reference to ‘the north’ and ‘London’. Such findings highlight the variance which may be found across the UK in terms of how Islam may be constructed and how this may affect mental health practice and care.
Participants willingness to undertake his project should also be considered in relation to what this may suggest about their openness to Islam and talking about a topic which has been in social consciousness and politicised. Such factors should also be considered in relation to how representative this study’s findings may be to people who are less willing to consider such issues and who are less open to talking about politicised matters or engage in research about how they consider and work with Islam, as such persons may express many important themes which could not be identified in this research. Attempts to manage overinclusion of participants who had an active interest in Islam or who had a lot of experience thinking about or working with the religion, was managed by asking these questions in the recruitment stage (Appendix G).
Lastly, the use of non-random sampling in this study, recruiting participants of who are affiliated and therefore may share a likeness, limits the generalisability of the study’s findings.