Introduction

One year ago, the Huntsville Department of Health launched a new program called “The Better Bottle” to promote expectant mothers to breastfeed infants for the first six months of life. Preliminary evaluation data from surveys with program participants in the target audience suggest that the program is currently underutilized. Specifically, the data suggests that the total number of women who enroll in the program is less than the staff expected, and that of the women who enrolled, the number who completed all of the activities is less than expected. However, the survey data collected does not offer any reasons for why women are not enrolling in and completing the program.

At the most recent “The Better Bottle” staff meeting, it was agreed that conducting a brief qualitative research study would help the staff to answer this question and provide evidence which could be used in making revisions to the program so that utilization would increase. A small team, to be led by Senior Program Officer, Maxine Hunter, was established and tasked with designing a qualitative study. But new team members are not as experienced with qualitative research as Maxine. Follow on with Program Assistant, Jonathan Mayers, as he explores various qualitative research approaches and methods under Maxine’s guidance.