Fundamentals of Qualitative Research Methods: What is Qualitative Research (Module 1)
Summary
TLDRThis video script by Leslie Currie introduces the fundamentals of qualitative research methods in health sciences, emphasizing their unique contributions to understanding complex phenomena. It outlines six modules covering the basics of qualitative research, developing research questions, in-depth interviews, focus groups, data analysis, and scientific rigor. The script highlights the inductive and context-driven nature of qualitative methods, their purposeful sampling, and iterative data analysis, contrasting them with quantitative approaches to showcase their complementary strengths.
Takeaways
- đ The course is about 'Fundamentals of Qualitative Research Methods' taught by Leslie Currie, a senior research scientist at Yale School of Public Health.
- đŻ The goal of the series is to enhance the capacity to conceptualize, design, and conduct qualitative research in the Health Sciences, including clinical and health services research.
- đ There are six modules in the series covering the basics of qualitative research, research question development, in-depth interviews, focus groups, data analysis, and scientific rigor.
- đĄ Qualitative research is highlighted as essential for understanding phenomena that cannot be quantified, such as patient preferences or self-efficacy in care management.
- đ The definition of qualitative research is provided as a systematic collection, organization, and interpretation of textual information, using inductive approaches to generate insights.
- đ Qualitative and quantitative research methods exist on a continuum, each with its strengths and limitations, and can be combined in mixed methods research.
- đ Qualitative research aims for depth of understanding, often in natural settings, using purposeful sampling and open-ended data collection methods like interviews and observations.
- đ Data analysis in qualitative research is iterative, involving ongoing interpretation and collection, contrasting with the more structured, one-time analysis in quantitative research.
- đ Qualitative research can produce recurrent themes or hypotheses, survey instruments, taxonomies, and conceptual models or theories as its products.
- đ An example of thematic output from a qualitative study on the use of interpreters by resident physicians is provided, illustrating the depth and nuance qualitative research can offer.
- đ The script concludes by emphasizing the unique contributions qualitative methods can make to health services and clinical research, and the importance of following rigorous procedures in qualitative research.
Q & A
What is the primary goal of the series on qualitative research methods presented by Leslie Currie?
-The primary goal of the series is to enhance the capacity to conceptualize, design, and conduct qualitative research in the Health Sciences, which includes clinical and health services research, and implementation science across various disciplines and specialties.
How many modules are there in the series, and what are they focused on?
-There are six modules in the series. They focus on understanding qualitative research, developing a qualitative research question, using in-depth interviews and focus groups as study designs, analyzing qualitative data, and reviewing the principles of scientific rigor in qualitative research.
What is the significance of the quote attributed to Albert Einstein in the context of qualitative research?
-The quote emphasizes the importance of recognizing that not everything that counts can be counted, suggesting that qualitative methods can capture aspects of phenomena that are difficult to quantify, thus highlighting their potential power in health sciences research.
How does qualitative research differ from quantitative research in terms of its approach?
-Qualitative research is inductive in nature, focusing on generating novel insights into phenomena that are difficult to measure quantitatively, whereas quantitative research is deductive, often testing hypotheses in a controlled setting.
What are the two broad buckets of what qualitative methods can achieve, as mentioned in the script?
-Qualitative methods can achieve a comprehensive description of processes, mechanisms, or settings, and they can also characterize participant perspectives and their experiences in great depth.
How does the script describe the relationship between quantitative and qualitative methods?
-The script describes the relationship through a Venn diagram, indicating that quantitative and qualitative methods exist along a continuum of measurement, each with its strengths and limitations, and that mixed methods can be used to combine them effectively.
What is the definition of qualitative research provided in the script, and what are its critical elements?
-Qualitative research is defined as a strategy for the systematic collection, organization, and interpretation of textual information. Its critical elements include being strategic, systematic, inductive, and focused on achieving depth of understanding.
What are some examples of the products generated through qualitative research?
-Examples of products generated through qualitative research include recurrent themes or hypotheses, survey instruments, taxonomies, and conceptual models or theories.
How does the script illustrate the use of thematic output in qualitative research?
-The script provides an example from a paper by Lisa Diamond, where recurrent themes were identified from interviews with resident physicians about their experience using interpreters. The thematic output is illustrated with a bolded theme, a description, and an illustrative quote from a participant.
What are the four major products of qualitative research mentioned in the script, and why are they important?
-The four major products are recurrent themes or hypotheses, survey instruments, taxonomies, and conceptual models or theories. They are important because they help identify and characterize aspects of health care, understand group interactions and individual perceptions, and provide frameworks for understanding particular phenomena.
How does the script emphasize the importance of qualitative methods in health services and clinical research?
-The script emphasizes the importance by discussing how qualitative methods can provide unique contributions to understanding complex phenomena in health services and clinical research, and by highlighting that there are rigorous and widely accepted procedures for qualitative research.
Outlines
đ Introduction to Qualitative Research Methods
Leslie Currie introduces the fundamentals of qualitative research methods, outlining her roles as a senior research scientist, co-director, and lecturer. The series aims to enhance the capacity to conceptualize, design, and conduct qualitative research in Health Sciences, covering clinical, health services, and implementation science across various disciplines. The six modules include understanding qualitative research, developing research questions, in-depth interviews, focus groups, data analysis, and scientific rigor. The importance of qualitative methods is emphasized through Einstein's quote, highlighting the value of non-quantifiable phenomena in research.
đ Exploring Qualitative Research Techniques
This paragraph delves into the specifics of qualitative research, including its inductive approach, depth of understanding, and natural setting. It contrasts qualitative methods with quantitative ones, illustrating their coexistence on a continuum of measurement. The paragraph explains the purposeful sampling, open-ended data collection, and iterative analysis process of qualitative research. It also discusses the potential products of qualitative research, such as recurrent themes, survey instruments, taxonomies, and conceptual models, emphasizing their role in health sciences.
đ Applications and Outputs of Qualitative Research
The final paragraph focuses on the practical applications and outputs of qualitative research, highlighting its unique contributions to health services and clinical research. It provides an example of recurrent themes from a study on the use of interpreters by physicians, showcasing how qualitative research can identify underutilization and offer insights into patient care. The paragraph concludes by emphasizing the rigorous procedures of qualitative research and the structured approach to be covered in the remaining modules of the series.
Mindmap
Keywords
đĄQualitative Research
đĄHealth Sciences
đĄIn-depth Interviews
đĄFocus Groups
đĄQualitative Data Analysis
đĄScientific Rigor
đĄAlbert Einstein Quote
đĄEpilepsy Medication Adherence
đĄMixed Methods
đĄRecurrent Themes
đĄConceptual Models
Highlights
Leslie Currie introduces herself as a senior research scientist at Yale School of Public Health and co-director of the Robert Wood Johnson clinical Scholars Program.
The series aims to enhance the capacity to conceptualize, design, and conduct qualitative research in the Health Sciences.
Qualitative research is defined as a strategy for the systematic collection, organization, and interpretation of textual information.
The importance of qualitative methods is emphasized through Albert Einstein's quote about the limitations of quantification.
Qualitative research is inductive, aiming for depth of understanding and is often conducted in natural settings.
Qualitative methods are contrasted with quantitative methods, showing they exist along a continuum of measurement.
The use of purposeful sampling in qualitative research is explained, as opposed to random sampling.
Data collection in qualitative research involves interview guides and observation tools, as opposed to structured surveys.
Data analysis in qualitative research is iterative, in contrast to the post-collection analysis of quantitative methods.
Qualitative research can produce recurrent themes, hypotheses, survey instruments, taxonomies, and conceptual models or theories.
The paper by Lisa Diamond on the use of interpreters by resident physicians is highlighted as an example of thematic output in qualitative research.
Qualitative methods are positioned as providing unique contributions to health services and clinical research.
The existence of rigorous and widely accepted procedures in qualitative research is acknowledged.
The series will cover primary methodologies such as interviews and focus groups, and data analysis in upcoming modules.
Qualitative research is presented as a valuable tool for understanding complex phenomena that are difficult to quantify.
The importance of reflecting on phenomena that cannot be easily quantified is discussed to appreciate the power of qualitative methods.
An example of a qualitative research question about medication adherence in epilepsy patients is provided to illustrate the approach.
The transcript concludes by emphasizing the importance of qualitative research in enhancing understanding in the Health Sciences.
Transcripts
welcome to fundamentals of qualitative
research methods my name is Leslie
Currie I'm a senior research scientist
at the Yale School of Public Health a
co-director at the Robert Wood Johnson
clinical Scholars Program at the Yale
School of Medicine and a lecturer at
Yale College and in all these various
roles I have the opportunity to teach
and mentor students in using qualitative
research methods as well as collaborate
across a number of multidisciplinary
teams across the university I'd like to
give you an overview of the modules in
this series and to start with the goal
of the series is to enhance our capacity
to conceptualize design and conduct
qualitative research in the Health
Sciences and by Health Sciences I mean
clinical and health services research
implementation science across a host of
disciplines and specialties there are
six modules in the series the first is
what is qualitative research the second
moves us to developing a qualitative
research question which is actually not
as easy as it might sound the third
module addresses one of the major
qualitative study designs the use of
in-depth interviews the fourth module
reviews a second major qualitative study
design the use of focus groups the fifth
module provides an overview of
qualitative data analysis the principles
and practices of analyzing qualitative
data and the last module reviews the
principles of scientific rigor in
qualitative research and so to begin
with the first module what is
qualitative research I want to invite
you to take a moment to reflect on this
fundamental premise really appreciating
this assumption is necessary in order to
maximize the use of qualitative methods
in the Health Sciences so this is a
quote attributed to Albert Einstein who
reflected that not everything that
can be counted counts and not everything
that counts can be counted so if you
pause and you think of a circumstance or
an issue or a phenomenon in your own
clinical practice or area of research I
invite you to contemplate a phenomenon
that perhaps can't have a number
assigned to it if we're interested for
instance in end-of-life care for
terminally ill patients you might think
about preferences for services at the
end of life this may be something that
it was very difficult to put a number on
and so this assumption helps us
appreciate the potential power of
qualitative methods so as an example we
might be interested in the care of
patients with epilepsy this first
question is a quantitative question what
proportion of people with epilepsy stop
taking their medications for three
consecutive days in a six-month period
this is something that we can quantify
put a number on it can be very important
in an overall question and looking at
adherence for meant to medication
regimes in this patient group a
different question related to the same
phenomenon might be how does medication
shape the lives of people with epilepsy
and so looking at a very different
perspective for the patient experience
whether or not they feel mastery or self
efficacy in trying to adhere to complex
medication regimes so let's move to a
definition what is qualitative research
there are many definitions this is one
that we feel represents the critical
elements of a qualitative research
approach and so we'll work through this
through this definition together for a
minute qualitative research is a
strategy for the systematic collection
organization and interpretation of
textual information so let's break this
down into parts we use the word strategy
to connote the fact that qualitative
research question is thoughtful
deliberate
conceived of with a broader attention to
context and to the relative strengths
and limitations of a qualitative method
so it's strategic in its nature it's
systematic it's not something that's
loose loosely formed ad hoc it rather
relies on a set of established
well-defined articulated methodologies
for the collecting organizing and
analyzing of qualitative data
qualitative research broadly uses
inductive approaches so working from the
ground up to generate novel insights
into phenomena that are difficult to
measure quantitatively such as
preferences for end-of-life care or
issues of self-efficacy and mastery in
self-care management so qualitative
methods can do a couple of things two
broad buckets the first being generating
a comprehensive description of processes
mechanisms or settings so thinking about
processes of implementing clinical care
mechanisms how one intervention may
achieve a particular outcome or settings
what is it like to care for patients and
their families in a particular
environment these methods can also
characterize participant perspectives
and their experiences in great depth
here we might think about individual
health behaviors individual experiences
of care in a particular clinic setting
so want to spend a few minutes on this
figure here in this Venn diagram we see
on one in one circle qualitative in the
other circle quantitative we have arrows
pointing to the center of the
intersection of these circles in order
to convey the really I think very
critical notion that quantitative and
qualitative methods really exist along a
continuum of measurement that each has
its respective strengths and limitations
and that when we draw upon those two in
order to minimize
the limitations in a particular method
and maximize its assets we use mix we
can use mixed methods which is the
combining of qualitative and
quantitative methods so let's just
populate one of these circles on the
qualitative methods circle so I
mentioned qualitative methods in terms
of approach is inductive in nature so
we're not coming to a research question
with any a priori hypotheses that we're
testing we're rather working from the
ground up qualitative research in terms
of its goal is to achieve depth of
understanding so we're looking in a very
deep way to unpack critical facets of a
given phenomenon we may be interested in
generating a hypotheses that can then go
on and be tested in a quantitative study
qualitative work occurs in a natural
setting it's not experimental it's not
controlled it doesn't happen in a lab
rather we're often interested in
features of the natural environment that
may help us understand the question of
interest sampling approaches and
qualitative methods are purposeful in
nature so just take a moment here to
think together about what purposeful
means this is in contrast to random
sampling so rather than for instance
were in an emergency department setting
and we are rather than recruit every
fifth patient who comes through the
doors of the emergency department a
purposeful sampling design would choose
individual patients who come through the
door that share a given characteristic
so for instance if we're interested in
the care of patients who are homeless in
the emergency department setting we'd
want to be very purposeful in that
design and choosing only those who have
the experience that we're interested in
studying data collection in qualitative
methods is done through interview guides
and various kinds of observation tools
these are much more open-ended than
structured surveys or instrumentation we
use in our quantitative studies and
lastly data analysis is iterative it's a
process of interpreting data going out
to the field collecting data
interpreting that going back out to the
field collecting day
and interpreting that this is in
contrast to our approaches in for
instance a structured survey on
quantitative methods where we collect
all of the data and then begin our
analysis only at that point and so you
can see how the quality principles of
qualitative methods line up with a
quantitative methods and I think very
important to consider that these are
simply a range of tools all designed to
measure different aspects of phenomena
of interest so what are the products of
qualitative research what can we make of
this well there are four at least four
ways to think about what we generate
through qualitative methods the first
product is recurrent themes or
hypotheses we're going to look at an
example of that in a moment the second
kind of product might be a survey
instrument measure so using a
qualitative exploratory phase in order
to design a survey to measure something
that hasn't been measured previously
taxonomy these are classification
systems in order to identify essential
properties of a particular construct and
conceptual models or theories these are
frameworks for helping us understand a
particular phenomenon these are four
major products of qualitative research
the most common we see in the health
sciences are recurrent themes or
hypotheses so themes are unifying
concepts or statements and they can do a
couple of things the first is to help us
identify and characterize a number of
aspects of health care and health the
first can be patterns of behaviors we
might look at how patterns recur in a
certain patient population or in a
certain environment they can help us
understand group interactions and
individual perceptions themes also can
help us develop testable hypotheses they
can do this by helping identify the
salient factors what matters in a given
to a given question what matters say
from a patient's perspective and they
can help inform predictions about
relationships how to
specs or dimensions of a given question
might relate to one another
so it's good let's look at an example
this is a paper written by a former
clinical scholar at the Robert Wood
Johnson program Lisa diamond and Lisa
was very interested in the use of
interpreters by resident physician
physicians in caring for patients who
have limited English proficiency and so
Lisa conducted a qualitative study she
interviewed residents at two academic
medical centers with excellent
interpreter services on site and she
talked with the residents to understand
their experience in using interpreters
in these environments in order to care
for these for these patients this is an
excerpt from the published paper which
is in the Journal of general internal
medicine and this is to give you an
example of what a fee Matic output looks
like this theme is in is in bold this is
one of the five recurrent themes in the
paper and the primary theme here the
emphasis is to indicate that residents
physicians
recognize that they under use
professional interpreters and describe
this phenomenon as quote getting by
sometimes we use the language of
participants in order to represent the
key element the most pertinent essence
of a given theme and then what follows
is several sentences that describe that
theme in greater depth and then followed
by an illustrative quote so using the
words of participants in order to
support and illustrate the higher-level
theme and just to read this together
this theme this quote from a resident
said that I know that when people are
very pushed for time they may or may not
call an interpreter they may just get by
on the few words they know in different
languages for like pain and take a deep
breath and just fumble through you
probably get a pretty bad history and
not maybe a great and maybe not a great
physical exam either it's an example of
thematic output so let's conclude with a
few thoughts first qualitative method
can provide unique contributions to
health services and clinical research
we've talked through briefly some
examples in this introductory segment
second there are rigorous and widely
accepted procedures for study design
sampling data collection and data
analysis and qualitative research and in
the remaining five modules in this
series we'll talk more about primary
methodologies interviews and focus
groups and data analysis in that context
thank you
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