Honor Nicholl used diary recordings for a doctoral study on mothers’ observations of caring for children with complex needs

Diary records in healthcare research are becoming more common. This article describes the use of a diary as a method in which mothers’ experiences of caring for children were explored in a hermeneutic phenomenological study or similar. Data for the original study were collected using three interviews and a diary recorded on three separate occasions. The challenges and issues that can arise when using diaries are discussed here.