Summaryfrom QHRbookChapters
➔ChapterstoreadfromgreenandThorogoodbook:1,2,3,5,7,10,11,13
➔MainpointsofChapter1:
-QHRhasrootsinsocialsciencesandhumanities,andaimstoanswerthe“what”, “how”or“why”questionsaboutsocialaspectsofhealth.-Qualitativeresearchersaimtounderstandphenomenaratherthanmeasure phenomena.-Inbiggerhealthresearchprograms,qualitativeapproachescontributetogenerating hypotheses,byaddingdepthtounderstanding.-ThedatatheyproduceandanalyzeareintheformofwordsandNOTnumbers.
-Principlesofqualitativemethodologyinclude:naturalism,reflexivity,afocuson
meaningandunderstanding.
-Reflexivity:afocusonthemeaningandflexibleresearchstrategies.
-QHRaimstounderstandactivitiesashealthbehaviorsandhealthprovision.
SummaryfromChapter1:
Introinfo:
-Qualitativeapproachestohealthhavetheirrootsinsocialsciencessuchassociology, socialanthropology,psychology,historyandgeography -Whatthesesocialscienceshaveincommonisthattheyfocusonwhatpeopledo,why andwhyisthecontextofsocialrelationships.-Challengesforhealthpolicyandpracticearebeingmorerootedinthe“social”,thatis whyhealthcarepractitionershaveturnedtosocialenquirytoenhanceunderstandingof healthandhealthbehavior.-Qualitativeresearchhashelpedinthattheyaredirectedmoreaboutunderstandinga phenomenaratherthanmeasuringit.
Topicsthatcanbeaddressedusingqualitativeresearch:
-Topicsrelatedtoindividualsroles,identitiesandviews.Ex:Whatdopeopleunderstand
abouta“healthydiet”?-Topicsrelatedtosocialgroups:Ex:Howdothemeaningsofbodysizedifferacross ethnicgroups? 1 / 4
-Topicsrelatedtothewaysinwhichsocietyisstructured:Ex:HowdidObesityemergeas asocialproblem?
PossibleaimsofQualitativeresearch:
-Findingoutwhatpatientsthinkofaservice -Evaluatingapolicychange -Exploringhowideasofmedicinehavechangedovertime.Healthresearch:healthresearchhas2strandsofwork:
-StudiesOFhealth:Critical”fromvarioussocialsciencesperspectives.Addresses
questionssuchas:Whatarehealthandillness?Studiesofhealthaimtoexplore
conceptsandcategoriesthatareimplicit(NOTexpressed)inthehealthagenda.-StudiesFORHealth:“Applied”contributionsofsocialsciencesaredefinedprimarilyby thehealthagenda.Studiesforhealthhavetheexistinghealthagendaastheirstarting point.(ThedistinctionsbetweenstudiesOFhealthandstudiesFORhealthalsoprovidesa
usefulwayofthinkingabouttheaimsofthestudy)(suchas:expandonknowledgeor
provideevidence?)
-Definitionsofhealthresearch:anystudyaddressingunderstandingsofhumanhealth,
healthbehaviorsandpractices,orhealthservices,whateverthedisciplinarystartingpoint.
Qualitativedata:
-FirstwayofCharacterizingqualitativeresearchisbydescribingthekindofdatait generates.-Dataintheformofwords.-Therearenocleardivisionsbetween“quantitative”and“qualitative”dataasallresearch involvessomequantificationandallresearchinvolvessomewords.-Inqualitativedata,simplefrequencycountsofthemesareusedininterviewdata.
Qualitativemethodsanddesigns:
-Secondwayofcharacterizingqualitativeresearchisbythemethodsusedtogenerate thosedata.Therearesomemethodsthatarespecificallyassociatedwithqualitative research.Therearealsosomedesignsthatarespecificallyassociatedwithqualitative researchsuchasethnographiccasestudies.
Aimsofthestudy:
-Athirddistinctionbetweenqualitativeandquantitativeresearchrelatestotheoverall aimsofthestudy.-Qualitativeresearchseekstounderstandphenomena,NOTtoquantifythem.-QualitativeRQtendstobeaboutthe“what”,”how”or“why”ofaphenomena,rather thanquestionsabout“howmany”. 2 / 4
-Manyqualitativestudieshave“understand”or“explore”asanaim.-Thefundamentalaimofqualitativestudiesisthatofunderstanding“whatisgoingon”.-Qualitativeresearchischaracterizedbyitsfundamentalaimsofunderstanding phenomena.-Qualitativeresearchaddressesquestionsaboutthenatureofthephenomena.-Qualitativeapproachesarethemostproductivewhentheybeginbyseekingtounderstand practices,orbehaviorsfromtheperspectiveofthosebeingstudied.-Qualitativeresearchattemptstounderstandtheworldfromtheperspectiveofthe
participant,nottheresearcher.Ex:publichealthandhealthpromotion,areoften
concernedwithchangingbehavior.
HierarchyofEvidence:
-Withinan“evidence-basedapproach”,giventhattheprimaryquestionsareaboutthe effectivenessoftreatments,theresearchapproachesthataremostprizedarethosethatare thestrongestforprovidingevidenceofeffectiveness.-Thereisa“hierarchyofevidence”,whereRCT“randomizedcontroltrial”isatthe TOP,asthemostcredibleevidenceonwhetherparticularinterventions“work”ornot.Casestudiesareatthebottomofthehierarchy,alongwith“descriptivestudies”or opinion.-Qualitativestudiescountonlyforverylittleinthishierarchyofevidence.
OrientationsofQualitativeresearch:
1.Naturalism:
-“Naturalism”:referstoapreferenceforstudyingphenomenaintheir“natural”or
everydayenvironments.-Itisneededbecauseresearchershavefoundthathumanbehaviorisalteredasaresultof takingpartinthestudy,ratherthanbecauseofanyofthespecificinterventionsbeing tested.-“Naturalistic”approachiswhentheyattempttogeneratein-depthknowledgeabout settingovertime,inordertounderstandhowandwhypeoplebehaveastheydo.-Theaimoftheresearcheristobecomepartofthesettingforlongenoughtounderstand whatisgoingon,andtoprovidedetaileddescription.Theresearcherismoreinterestedin everydayor“reallife”contextsthaninidealsituations.-Naturalisticresearchincludestheoreticalanalysisofaccountsofthesocialworlds.-“Naturalism”isofcourseanidealisticnotion,asthereisinpracticeno“clean”research field.Anyactofobservationswillimpactthefield,however“invisible”theresearcher becomes. 3 / 4
2.Reflexivity:
-Theresearchersshouldsubjecttheirownresearchpracticetothesamecriticalanalysis thattheydeploywhenstudyingtheirtopic.-First,reflexivityinvolvesreflectingcriticallyontheresearchitself.Reflectingonwhy somequestionsarelegitimateandwhytheyattractfunding.-Thereflexiveresearcherconsidersthebroaderpoliticalandsocialcontextoftheir research.-TheSecond,levelofreflexivityneededinqualitativeresearchismorepersonal,and involvestheconsiderationoftheroleoftheresearcherhimorherselfingeneratingand analyzingtheirdata.Whoyouareasaresearcherwillshapethekindofdatagenerated.
3.Flexibleresearchstrategies:
-Qualitativestudieshaveaflexibleresearchstrategy,whichcanbeadaptedasearlydata areproducedandanalyzed.Flexibleinthatwecanchangethingsduringtheprocess suchasliteratureandtheresearchquestionsasweworkontheresearch.
-Forexample:Earlydataanalysismaysuggestamorerefinedresearchquestionthatwill
influencelatersampling,andmaysendyoubacktolookformoreliterature.-Thedegreeofflexibilityrequireddependsonthedemandsofthestudyandthe perspectiveoftheresearcher.
Qualitativemethodologiesusedinhealthagenda/oraspartofmixed-methodprogram:
1.Qualitativestudiescanbeusedinexploratorywork.Giventhataprimaryaimof qualitativeresearchistoexplorephenomena,qualitativestudiescanthereforebeused whenlittleisknownaboutatopic.
2.Qualitativeworkscanfollowquantitativeresearch,withtheaimofadding“Depth” tofindingsfromquantitativestudies.Qualitativeresearchhasaveryimportantrolein understandingthe“meaning”ofquantitativerecord,intermsofuncoveringtheprocesses bywhichthestatisticsthatareusedroutinelyinpublichealthareproduced.Qualitative workcanidentifythesocial,organizationalandhistoricalfactorsthatshapehowtheseare bothproducedandused.
3.Qualitativeandquantitativeapproachesareusedtogether,withtheaimof addressingdifferentaspectsofthesameresearchquestion.These2canbeused togetherwiththeaimofextendingourunderstandingofaphenomena.Therationalefor mixingqualitativeandquantitativecomponentsmaybetogeneratedifferentkindsof data,ortoaddress“gaps”whereonemethodcannotproducedata.
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