| Date | November 2017 | Marks available | 10 | Reference code | 17N.Paper 3.HL.TZ0.01 |
| Level | HL only | Paper | Paper 3 | Time zone | TZ0 |
| Command term | Discuss | Question number | 01 | Adapted from | N/A |
Question
The stimulus material below is based on a research article that addresses the psychosocial consequences of female infertility and treatment in a country in the Middle East.
In some countries, giving birth is often the only way for married women to enhance their status in the community. Women are often blamed for infertility, regardless of the actual cause, leading to stress.
The aim of this study was to investigate the psychosocial consequences for females being treated for infertility in a country in the Middle East. Since staff in this fertility centre did not address psychological or social issues related to infertility, the female researcher wanted to investigate which psychosocial needs could be addressed in the future.
The study took place in a public fertility centre in a country in the Middle East. A purposive sample of 25 women aged between 21 and 48 years was selected for the study. An ethics committee approved the study. All women signed consent forms after first being informed about the aim of the study and their ethical rights.
The researcher carried out the individual semi-structured interviews herself and the participants gave her permission to audio-record the interviews.
The inductive content analysis of the transcripts revealed two higher-order themes with related lower-order themes:
• Social: Concerns that the husband would find another wife, worries that people might find out about the infertility, or worries about being able to pay for continued treatment.
• Psychological: Feelings of guilt, loneliness and anxiety as well as fear of taking a pregnancy test or telling the husband about the negative results.
The researcher asked participants to confirm the accuracy of their statements. Additionally, the researcher asked other researchers to verify the results. As a control, several infertile women who did not participate in the study agreed to compare the findings of the study with their own experiences.
The conclusion was that because of the social pressure in the Middle East for married women to give birth, infertility and its treatment can be a major source of psychological suffering. As a result of the findings the researcher suggested that having professionally trained social workers could be a valuable addition to medical interventions in the clinics in order to help the women manage the psychosocial consequences of infertility and its treatment.
Discuss the use of semi-structured interviews in this study.
Markscheme
Refer to the paper 3 markbands when awarding marks.
The command term “discuss” requires candidates to offer a considered review of factors relevant for the use of semi-structured interviews in the research study in the stimulus material. Conclusions should be presented clearly and supported by appropriate knowledge of semi-structured interviews applied to the stimulus material.
Responses that use the term “experiment” as a generic term for “study” should not be penalized.
Semi-structured interviews normally use a combination of closed and open-ended questions and the interview is often more informal and conversational in nature.
Reasons for choosing the semi-structured interview in this study could include, but are not limited to:
• The topic of infertility is a socially and personally sensitive topic so the flexibility of the semi-structured interview allows participants to talk more freely and express their true feelings. Using open-ended questions makes it possible for respondents to give an account of their personal experiences with infertility from their own perspective. This seems a major advantage in this study because of the sensitive topic of female infertility in a society where women's worth is related to bearing children. The fact that the interviewer was a woman might have increased respondents’ feelings of being able to say exactly what they wanted, providing authentic responses.
• The semi-structured interview allows researchers to get specific answers on closed questions related to the study as well as the opportunity to obtain richer data in the open-ended questions compared to a narrative interview where some data might be less useful because participants’ responses may not be entirely focused on the research question.
• If the researchers had used a structured interview with closed questions they would perhaps not be able to gain the same insight into the true worries and emotional problems of the women suffering from infertility.
• It could be difficult to conduct a focus group interview with other women in the same situation if there is social stigma around the problem of infertility. The respondents may not have revealed all their worries and concerns.
Candidates may also refer to the disadvantages of semi-structured interviews, for example, that analysis of data is extremely time-consuming. Since the researchers have chosen to use the semi-structured interview in spite of this, it could be because of the possibility to obtain richer data.
Responses may refer to other research methods as part of the discussion, but the focus of the response should be on the use of semi-structured interviews in this study.
