ResearchPerspectives in PracticeThe Use of the Pile Sort Method in Identifying Groups of Healthful Lifestyle Behaviors among Female Community College Students
Section snippets
Methods
Female students were recruited to participate in one of six focus groups conducted in 2005 through posted flyers and in person at the cafeteria or lobby on two community college campuses in North Carolina. Eligibility criteria included female sex, age 18 years or older, and the ability read and write in English. Thus, groups were homogeneous for sex and college status, but not race/ethnicity or age. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Public Health Institutional Review Board
Participant Characteristics
The 28 female student participants were white (n=13), black or African American (n=11), or other races (n=4). There was substantial variability in age: nine participants were 18 to 25 years age, seven were 26 to 35 years, six were 36 to 45 years, and six were older than 45 years. All participants were high school graduates or had earned a general equivalency diploma; some also had a 2-year degree (n=4), or a 4-year degree or more (n=7). Approximately half were married (n=17) and had no children
Discussion
The pile sort method revealed good consistency across individuals for four main behavior groups: exercise, positive foods to eat, lifestyle, and how you eat. These groups may offer a potential starting point for designing intervention materials in this population. To illustrate the application of these pile sort results to the design of intervention content, assume a research team would like to design a set of tailored messages to promote healthful eating and physical activity. One tailored
Conclusions
In a broad context, the pile sort method is another resource to add to the “qualitative toolbox” available to researchers. Compared with other qualitative methods, the pile sort method represents a structured method that may offer several beneficial applications for formative research protocols and dietetics practice. This approach of identifying relevant behaviors and groupings can be applied to interventions focusing on a variety of health conditions, new populations, and complex behaviors
L. M. Quintiliani is a research fellow, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA; at the time of the study, she was a doctoral student, Department of Nutrition, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
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Cited by (0)
L. M. Quintiliani is a research fellow, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA; at the time of the study, she was a doctoral student, Department of Nutrition, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
M. K. Campbell is a professor, and P. S. Haines is an associate professor, Department of Nutrition University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
K. H. Webber is an assistant professor, Nutrition and Food Science, University of Kentucky, Lexington; at the time of the study, she was a doctoral student, Department of Nutrition, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.