Method Design For the purposes of this exploration, Grounded Theory informed by Symbolic Interactionism was identified as the most appropriate approach as it respected the participants' subjective interpretation of their experiences and the social processes within their professional socialisation (Charmaz, 2006). The philosophy of Symbolic Interactionism arose from writing by Blumer (1954) and Mead (1931) (cited in Marcellus, 2005). This philosophy encourages the researcher to view individuals as being interactive components of their environment and understand that human phenomena require acknowledgement that people take meaning from experiences shared with others. Using Grounded Theory enables theoretical concepts to emerge from the participants' data (Glaser and Strauss, 1967). The Glaserian approach to Grounded Theory (Glaser, 1992) was selected as the student interview data provided its own direction for analysis, giving confidence that through constant comparison, theoretical sampling and substantive and theoretical coding, that new understanding would emerge and be grounded in the participants' experiences (Artinian et al., 2009). Data Collection and Participants The took place during 2009–2010 at a university in the north of England. Individual depth interviews with student nurses (n=19) were conducted within their university campus with each participant interviewed on one occasion. The student interviews consisted of exploratory questioning related to the student experience, such as asking them to talk about a recent placement and their feelings and experiences when caring for patients. Interviews lasted between 60 and 90 minutes yielding rich data. Student nurses from the adult nursing programmes were recruited through an invitation to participate posted on their university's Virtual Learning Environment. A convenience sample of students was initially recruited from cohorts attending university sessions at the time of the researchers' first data collection visit, with volunteers coming forward from within all three year groups and both the degree and diploma programmes. These first four volunteers were interviewed and this was followed by theoretical sampling of a further 15 students. The direction for theoretical sampling arose from constant comparison of data and the desire to explore and differences emerging from the data, according to the Grounded Theory (Glaser, 1992). All those who responded to requests for specific volunteers during theoretical sampling were interviewed resulting in a participant profile that was diverse. The participants
Method Design For the purposes of this exploration, Grounded Theory informed by Symbolic Interactionism was identified as the most appropriate approach as it respected the participants' subjective interpretation of their experiences and the social processes within their professional socialisation (Charmaz, 2006). The philosophy of Symbolic Interactionism arose from writing by Blumer (1954) and Mead (1931) (cited in Marcellus, 2005). This philosophy encourages the researcher to view individuals as being interactive components of their environment and understand that human phenomena require acknowledgement that people take meaning from experiences shared with others. Using Grounded Theory enables theoretical concepts to emerge from the participants' data (Glaser and Strauss, 1967). The Glaserian approach to Grounded Theory (Glaser, 1992) was selected as the student interview data provided its own direction for analysis, giving confidence that through constant comparison, theoretical sampling and substantive and theoretical coding, that new understanding would emerge and be grounded in the participants' experiences (Artinian et al., 2009). Data Collection and Participants The took place during 2009–2010 at a university in the north of England. Individual interviews with student nurses (n=19) were conducted within their university campus with each participant interviewed on one occasion. The student interviews consisted of exploratory questioning related to the student experience, such as asking them to talk about a recent placement and their feelings and experiences when caring for patients. Interviews lasted between 60 and 90 minutes yielding rich data. Student nurses from the adult nursing programmes were recruited through an invitation to participate posted on their university's Virtual Learning Environment. A convenience sample of students was initially recruited from cohorts attending university sessions at the time of the researchers' first data collection visit, with volunteers coming forward from within all three year groups and both the degree and diploma programmes. These first four volunteers were interviewed and this was followed by theoretical sampling of a further 15 students. The direction for theoretical sampling arose from constant comparison of data and the desire to explore depth and differences emerging from the data, according to the Grounded Theory (Glaser, 1992). All those who responded to requests for specific volunteers during theoretical sampling were interviewed resulting in a participant profile that was diverse. The participants
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