I am planning a research project to explore the experiences of people who have used homeopathy, and if you have used homeopathy yourself then I would be really grateful if you would consider taking part in my research.
I would like to interview people who have used homeopathy, have been pleased with the results, but have encountered negative reactions to your use of homeopathy from others. Perhaps your GP has advised you not to use homeopathy, perhaps friends or family have told you that you were wasting your time, or perhaps you got into an argument with someone on the internet. It doesn’t matter who reacted negatively to your use of homeopathy: I am interested in learning about how users of homeopathy experience negative reactions in general.
The research will take the form of a short interview of about 30 minutes (which can take place in a location of your choice), in which I will ask you about your experiences and how they seemed to you. I shall be using a phenomenological approach to the research, which means that I am interested in learning about your experiences from your own point of view, rather than trying to fit them into a pre-existing theory.
This research is part of a degree in social sciences that I am doing with the Open University. Specifically, it is part of a module in social psychology.
In the interests of transparency, I should tell you that I am sceptical of the benefits of homeopathy. However, my intention in this research is not to challenge your views about homeopathy, it is to come to a better understanding of them.
If you decide you want to take part but later change your mind, that is fine. In that case, any materials from your interview would be returned to you or destroyed, as you prefer, and your interview would not be used in my research.
Please be assured that your participation in the study would be kept strictly confidential.
If you are interested in taking part in my research or if you would just like to know more about about the project, please feel free to contact me.
Thank you for taking the time to read this.
Adam Jacobs
Update 29 January 2015:
Many thanks to everyone who volunteered for this project. I now have enough data, and so I no longer need any more volunteers.
I just saw the info about your research project. I am interested to know /see your final paper.
i am considering a career in alternative medicine including Homeopathy.
Thank you
Hi Lesley
The final paper was part of an OU degree I did and wasn’t published. It’s probably not really appropriate for me to share it, but I don’t mind posting the abstract here. I’ll do that in the next comment.
What I would say is that you should think very carefully before considering a career in homeopathy. Homeopathy is a scam. There is absolutely no evidence that it works, and plenty of evidence that it doesn’t. Homeopaths who actually understand homeopathy necessarily have to lie to their patients to get them to agree to treatment.
Do you really want to make a career out of lying to sick people? Your choice, of course, which totally depends on what your conscience will let you do.
Adam
This qualitative interview study set out to answer the question of how do users of homeopathy perceive their experience of using homeopathy and in particular, what is their experience of having their use of homeopathy questioned by others who are sceptical of the benefits of homeopathy? Two participants were interviewed, both of whom had used homeopathy and been pleased with its results, and both of whom had had their choice of homeopathy questioned by others. The analysis of the data used a phenomenological approach and identified four themes. The participants mostly felt homeopathy had been effective for them, though that judgement was somewhat situational. They had both turned to homeopathy because of concerns about conventional medicine. Personal experience was important to both of them in forming their judgement about homeopathy. Lastly, both participants felt a sense of frustration when discussing homeopathy with those who were sceptical of it, and felt that others did not listen to them. A promising direction for future research might to be to investigate similar attitudes in people with a more zealous attachment to homeopathy.