Dying to know: Qualitative research with terminally ill persons and their families

This article illustrates the use of qualitative research methods in the field of thanatology. The authors - a former doctoral candidate and her dissertation chair-describe their ongoing naturalistic inquiry of terminally ill persons and their family members. By describing the reasoning and decision-making in forming their study the authors provide an instructive "how to"on thefollowing topics.-finding a research question and a method; assessing risks and benefits; sampling; gaining entry/access to research informants; participant observation; interviewing; analyzing data, and establishing "relational integrity". In a final section, the first author offers rejections on the personal challenges she faced while conducting her research.