Hello all,

I am a full-time physiotherapist and recently enrolled part-time PhD student. My area of interest is illness perceptions and their association with functional outcomes following physiotherapy intervention. I have attached a copy of my research proposal for more details. Whilst I have good supervisors and mentors within my institution I felt it would be beneficial to gain a wider perspective on my proposal and some questions I have from this list.
Specific questions are;
1) The initial synthesis will use wider rehabilitation literature from cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation, in keeping with the realist philosophy that little in terms of mechanisms is new and much is probably evident in other related areas. The resulting middle range theory (MRT) will form my initial starting point for the physiotherapy specific MRT. Given this, for the synthesis am I valid in only recruiting rehabilitation experts (physios and nurses who deliver cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation) for my focus group as I am not investigating a single intervention?
2) For the evaluation trial I am looking to utilise mediation analysis for quantitative investigation alongside more 'traditional' qualitative methods in the form of focus groups and interviews. From my limited grasp of scientific realist method this is valid given that scientific realism is explicitly a mixed methods compatible approach - or am I wrong? The MRT from the synthesis would guide the measures used to provide the data for the mediation analysis. The exact statistical method for mediation analysis is yet to be decided (need to look further at literature and discuss with statisticians!!!). The outcome from the mediation analysis would further inform the qualitative process.

I obviously have many more questions but these are the 2 methodological queries I am wrestling with currently and would appreciate any and all opinions.

For all those in the UK treat your mum well this Mothering Sunday and for the rest around the globe have a very enjoyable weekend,

best regards,

Craig Chambers
Part-time PhD student
Sheffield Hallam University