Field Observation in Mental Health Inpatient Settings: An Integrative Review and Reporting Guideline

Using field observation in mental health settings is challenging and necessitates careful planning and transparent data collection and analysis. Lack of requirements for reporting observation methods increases the potential for researchers to omit important details, leading to ambiguity in interpretation, challenges in replicating the study, and misinformed conclusions. Despite the availability of reporting guidelines for qualitative methods such as interviews and focus groups, guidelines or frameworks for reporting field observation methods are lacking. There is a need to address this gap by starting with an examination of current research that employs and reports on observation methods. As a result, we conducted an integrative review to analyze and synthesize research studies that implemented qualitative observation in mental health inpatient settings. We navigated the detailed reporting of contextual information, bias, rigor, participants, observer information, observation procedures, ethical considerations, data analysis, and limitations. Informed by the strengths and limitations of the observation methods used and described in the literature, we developed a guideline for reporting field observation research methods in mental health inpatient settings. The guideline outlines the key characteristics and information to include when reporting observation procedures. The guideline has five categories covering: i) context, ii) access and ethics, iii) observer-related factors, iv) observation procedures, and v) data collection and analysis. It is designed for reporting field observation methods, but may also help researchers plan and conduct field observation.