Published 7 August 2008, doi:10.1136/bmj.a288
Cite this as: BMJ 2008;337:a288

Practice

Qualitative Research

An introduction to reading and appraising qualitative research

¹ Department of Medicine, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, University of Toronto, 2075 Bayview Avenue, Toronto, ON, Canada M4N 3M5 , ² Department of Psychiatry, Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, Centre for Faculty Development, and Wilson Centre for Research in Education, University of Toronto, 200 Elizabeth Street, Eaton South 1-565, Toronto, ON, Canada M5G 2C4

Related to doi: , 10.1136/bmj.39602.690162.47doi: , 10.1136/bmj.a1020doi: , 10.1136/bmj.a879doi: , 10.1136/bmj.a949doi: 10.1136/bmj.a1035

This article explores the difference between qualitative and quantitative research and the need for doctors to be able to interpret and appraise qualitative research

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

The number of qualitative research articles published in medical journals has increased substantially over the past few years.¹ Qualitative studies have contributed to our understanding of important clinical issues, such as patients’ reasons for following or abandoning medical recommendations^{2 3} and patients’ and carers’ needs and wishes at the end of life.^{4 5} None the less, healthcare professionals still have strong concerns about a widespread lack of understanding of the nature and uses of such research.^{1 6 7}

This knowledge gap can be particularly problematic for a physician who is asked to review, for a journal or a grant agency, one of the increasing numbers of papers that makes use of qualitative or "mixed" (combined quantitative and qualitative) methods. Several articles in various medical subfields^{8 9 10} have highlighted this problem in the review process. It can lead to refusals by journals to publish well conducted research because of a lack of understanding of the methods . . . [Full text of this article]

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