H1 Qualitative Methodology in
Health Research
What do health researches do?
Helping us generate helpful knowledge about health and illness at a range of levels.
Qualitatve methodolog includes a set of approaches for answering what wh and with what efects
Understanding rather than measuring
- Micro-level: understanding, experiences, interpersonal communicaton, behaviour, practces
- Meso-level: organizatons, network, communites, hospitals
- Macro-level: global networks, inequalites, environments, natonal practces.
Studies for healthfrom within felds in which the contributons of social science are defned
primaril b the health agenda
Studies of health more critcal, aim to explore concepts and categories as a startng point.
What is qualitative research?
Qualitative data
In the form of words, but stll possible to use simple frequenc counts
In general: qualitatve research does tend to use and generate language data (writen or orall and
quanttatve research numerical data.
Qualitative methodsi and desiinnsi
Interviews and observatons are ofen used
Qualitative resiearchh quesitionsi
Studies seek to understand phenomena, not quantf them
Qualitative resiearchh and evidenche-basied prachtiche
There is a hierarch of evidence wit RCT at the top
The orientationsi of qualitative resiearchh
- Commitment to naturalism
- Refexitvit
- Focus and meaning
- Flexible approach to research stud
Naturalisim
= preference for stud ing phenomena in their natural of ever da environments.
Ethnographic methods are the most naturalistc because the generate in-depth knowledge about a
setting over tme.
Aim for the researcher to become part of the setting to understand what’s going on.
Naturalistc behaviourism= empirical approach to stud ing the social world with its own logic.
Reflexivity
= researches subject their own research practce to the same critcal anal sis that the deplo when
stud ing their topic.
,Researchers accept that subjectve impressions and partal accounts are part of the research process.
Involves refectng critcall on the research itself.
Involves a consideraton of the role of the researcher himself in generatng and anal sing their data.
A focus on meaning
Acceptng multple perspectves of the world, and researcher wants to understand these.
Most qualitatve research is focused on problems, but one has to address this b asking positve
questons.
Public health and health promoton are ofen concerned with changing behaviour.
Flexible research strategies
strateg can be adopted as earl data are produced and anal sed.
Degree of fexibilit depends on demands of the stud and the perspectve of the researcher.
A critcal perspectve
Researchers seek constantl to queston common-sense accounts and assumptons.
Where does qualitative research ft?
Using multple methods is becoming more common> qualitatve methods not onl used in qualitatve
studies, ofen combinatons
3 roles qualitatve methodologies might plan within broader health research agenda:
- Exploring or plot work
To fnd out more about the topic, forming a base for larger quanttatve studies. Adoptng
existng surve instruments for new populatons requires qualitatve research to improve
validit , reliabilit and sensitvit of the instrument.
Development phases
- Adding depth or understanding to fndings from quanttatve data
Qualitatve work an identf social, organizatonal and historical factors that shape how these
are both produced and used, providing insights into possible threats to reliabilit and validit .
- Parallel studies
Qualitatve and quanttatve research questons on the same topic simultaneousl with the
aim to extend our understanding of the phenomenon
Assumptions about qualitative research
- Not scientfc
More inductve> the use theor generaton instead of theor testng
Deductve> starts with theor , from which h potheses are derived and tested
- Can onl produce subjectve accounts
The anal se subjectve experiences and tr to fnd value behind it
Strategies that diferentate research from other actvites to see to describe social life”
-Atenton to evidence> aim to provide evidence for descriptons and interpretaton
-Critcal approach to subjectve accounts
-Critcal approach anal tc accounts
-Careful and rigorous anal sis
- Does not contribute to an evidence base for health practce and polic
Reach parts other methods can’t reach. Pla s ke role in EBM because it can provide answers
that experimented methods cannot address. Strongest for understanding what people do,
likel to generate more useful informaton, presentng beter data on beliefs and behaviour.
To sensitze practoners to the range of perspectves their patents might hold.
, H2 The Role of Theory
Assumptons infuence questons we ask, how we answer those questons and how we asses the
fndings of other researchers. oocate individual stud as partcular example of broader phenomena.
Macro theory
= broad perspectves on the world that shape the wa s in which we approach questons about health
and health care. Allows questons to be asked at higher level of abstracton.
Middle-range Theory
Macro theories generates middle-range theories that link concepts together and generate
h potheses to be tested or interestng questons to address.
oink between macro theories and behaviour of people in ever da settings middle-range theoretcal
concepts are drawn to generate research questons.
Middle-range theor generates the partcular questons we as and the fndings of qualitatve studies
ma add to the bod of theor of this level.
Theories of knowledge
Relates to the ideas about how we come to know the world, have faith in the truth or validit of that
knowledge.
Belongs to a branch of philosoph > epistemolog
- Positvism and realism
Assumes frst that there is a stable realit out there, separate from our human
understandings of that realit .
Startng point for research methods:
-Stress on empiricism
-Unit of method, idea that all sciences will share the same methods of enquir
-Emphasis on value-free enquir , science is held to be separate from societ and as
Objectve, ratonal and neutral.
- Interpretatve approaches
Questons about people’s interpretatons about the realit
Phenomenolog
To understand the essence of phenomena, one had to understand how the lifeworld was
directl experienced.
Methodolog = reducton> process of atemptng to bracket of the conceptualizatons,
prejudices and theories b which we came to understand phenomena and atempt to get
their universal and essental nature, which is experienced directl .
Social constructonism
Realit is sociall constructed. How we divide out the world in order to comprehend it is
the result of historical, social and politcal processes.
strong politcal startng point
Taking issue with pre-existng realit and seeking how to understand how realit is
constructed through social processes.
