BMJ 2000;320:1729 ( 24 June )

Letters

Qualitative research in health care

    Good communication is essential part of educational process
    Antirealism is an excuse for sloppy work

Good communication is essential part of educational process

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR---The first Education and debate section of the new millennium was very educational in a way that was almost certainly not anticipated or intended by either the staff of the journal (unless they were being very mischievous) or the authors of the papers concerned. 1 2 In the paper by Lilford et al1 the study under discussion was clearly defined, but unfortunately in the paper by Mays et al2 I was not able, after reading the paper three times, to find a definition of the type of research being discussed anywhere.

The style of the paper by Lilford et al allowed an easy understanding of the thesis being developed, but the same could not be said of the paper by Mays et al, which seemed to lack a clearly discernible logic in relation to the case being made. The paper was replete with jargon and many strangely unscientific terms, which . . . [Full text of this article]
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This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Cohen, D. J., Crabtree, B. F. (2008). Evaluative Criteria for Qualitative Research in Health Care: Controversies and Recommendations. Ann Fam Med 6: 331-339 [Abstract] [Full text]  
  • Rapport, F, Wainwright, P, Elwyn, G (2005). "Of the edgelands": broadening the scope of qualitative methodology. Med. Humanities 31: 37-42 [Abstract] [Full text]  

Rapid Responses:

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Understanding articles demands an open mind
Daniel Munday
bmj.com, 23 Jun 2000 [Full text]
Qualitative research in health care
Jacqueline Low
bmj.com, 26 Jun 2000 [Full text]
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bmj.com, 12 Jul 2000 [Full text]
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