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organizational knowledge were needed to code participants’ TABLE 1 Demographic and Military Characteristics of the
responses. Nevertheless, this study was centered on a descrip- Study Sample
tive approach, so the analysis stayed very close to participants’ Sample %
own words and interpretations of their experiences. Characteristic (N=70)
Gender
An open and continuous codification was carried out, in Men 85.7%
which emerging patterns and themes gathered from interviews Women 14.3%
were added to the codebook and the codes from earlier inter- First official language of Canada
views were revised to include related themes. All coded notes English 77.1%
were reviewed to identify emerging themes that were common French 22.9%
or divergent across participants (i.e., transversal compar-
ison). Codes and themes were defined and interpreted with Marital status
consideration given to participants’ sociodemographic (e.g., Married/common-law 68.6%
age, gender, first language) and military (e.g., role, rank, unit) Separated/divorced/widowed 11.4%
characteristics and the literature on resilience and military Single 20.0%
psychology. Emerging themes were contrasted with members’ Dependents living at home
roles (i.e., operational versus nonoperational) because opera- Yes 58.6%
tional members and members in supporting roles are exposed No 41.4%
to adversity and to stressors differing in nature and intensity. Force type
Regular 91.4%
The analysis strategy was both inductive and deductive. The
researchers coded the data inductively without trying to fit Reservist 8.6%
emerging themes into a preexisting coding frame and allow- Rank
ing themes to unfold from participants’ own experiences. The Junior noncommissioned member 45.7%
qualitative data were also coded deductively to organize and in- Senior noncommissioned member 44.3%
terpret the semantic content in light of previous evidence-based Officer 10.0%
knowledge of resilience and the social-ecological framework. Role
Thematic analysis provides some flexibility to determine the Assaulter or operator 47.1%
importance of themes in different ways. We decided to rep- Supporter 44.3%
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resent the prevalence of themes with descriptors (e.g., many, Specialist 4.3%
several, some); however, the inclusion of themes was not based
solely on their frequency. The importance of a theme was not Pilot or aircrew 4.3%
directly related to quantifiable measures or how many times
the theme had been mentioned by participants. All themes that using a purposeful sampling method with a maximum varia-
captured meaningful information about the processes and con- tion sampling (i.e., a small number of participants with diverse
text of resilience among SOF members were considered import- characteristics were selected) to ensure a good representation of
ant and were included in the codebook. As such, researchers the different types of experiences of the phenomenon being ex-
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decided to avoid quantifying emerging themes with descriptive amined. This nonprobabilistic sampling method allowed the
statistics because this process may lead to misinterpretations. 26 researcher to capture and describe the phenomenon of interest
with rich information and to draw broad insights. Participant
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Scientific rigor was ensured by using several strategies recom- characteristics included in the sampling process were unit, role,
mended by Mays and Pope. The researchers had a prolonged language, sex, and time served in CANSOFCOM. Data were
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engagement in the field and compared their identified codes; collected until empirical saturation was reached, meaning that
any discrepancies in coding (e.g., code description, coded in- no new information emerged from interviews and subsequent
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terview content) were discussed until a consensus was reached. analyses. The study sample was not compared with the overall
Researchers also included perspectives that were in opposition CANSOFCOM population because generalizability of findings
to, or deviated from, more common perspectives using context, was not an objective and because of the classified nature of the
nuance, or explanations to better understand differences in par- information. Nevertheless, the sample includes CANSOFCOM
ticipants’ perspectives. Finally, the results were discussed with members with diverse military and sociodemographic charac-
subject matter experts and CANSOFCOM members to verify teristics, and we are confident that we have captured informa-
the validity of the researchers’ interpretations and conclusions. tion from a sample diverse enough to translate to most of the
CANSOFCOM population.
Ethical Considerations
The study was approved by the Social Science Research Re- Findings
view Board (#1628/17F). Participants were informed that all
the information would be kept confidential and anonymous Stress and Adversity
and that they could withdraw at any time during the interview Most participants were able to identify at least one notable
process without incurring any consequences. challenge, stressor, or adverse experience during their time in
CANSOFCOM, although a minority, mainly participants in
Study Sample supporting roles, indicated that they had not experienced any
The study sample (N=70) consisted mostly of married, meaningful stress.
English-speaking men between 30 and 39 years of age, currently
serving with CANSOFCOM (Table 1). The average time served High operational tempo, in garrison and while deployed,
in CANSOFCOM was 7.5 years. The sample was recruited was commonly reported by participants as a chronic stressor.

62 | JSOM Volume 20, Edition 4 / Winter 2020