4.2 Strengths and limitations
This study is one of the first studies, to elicit and compare perspectives of both service users and practitioners on QCancer, a cancer risk assessment tool designed for symptomatic individuals in general practice. Individual interviews provided information from service users and practitioners, while the focus groups facilitated discussion between practitioners in their respective general practices and provided rich data through the interactions and prompting of ideas. Another strength of this study is that, data saturation was realised in terms of code (no new ideas expressed) and meaning (ideas expressed were understood).12
Although the study was widely publicised, all the service user participants were of White British ethnicity. People from ethnic minority groups may not have participated because of lack of awareness of the study, language problems affecting their ability to understand the advertisement, or a lack of interest in participating. People from minority ethnic groups have been shown to be less likely to participate in research studies if they lack confidence in their language abilities or lack understanding of the topic being researched,13-15 whereas they are more likely to participate when approached with sensitivity and when they believe the study will be beneficial.13-16