Kajian Revitalisasi Aspek Sosial Pasar Nagari Padang Lua

Purpose: The paper aims to explore the role and significance of qualitative methods in the research process, particularly focusing on their ability to interpret and understand complex social phenomena. It highlights the complementarity between qualitative and quantitative approaches and their joint use in comprehensive research. Design/methodology/approach: This paper utilizes a theoretical approach to describe and analyze qualitative research methods, including observation, interviews, and group discussions. The discussion is grounded in a comparison with quantitative methods, emphasizing the interpretive and subjective aspects of qualitative research, which allows for a deeper understanding of phenomena. Findings: The paper finds that qualitative methods play a crucial role in providing insights into phenomena that cannot be quantified. It highlights the importance of qualitative research in building theories from observed experiences, the value of respondents’ personal experiences, and the essential interaction between researchers and participants. The findings also support the argument that qualitative and quantitative research are complementary, and using both approaches can enhance research outcomes. Research limitations/implications: The paper acknowledges that purely qualitative research may lack generalizability due to its focus on individual or small group data. It suggests future research should continue to integrate both qualitative and quantitative methods to enhance the validity of the results. Practical implications: While not directly aimed at providing commercial or economic recommendations, the findings emphasize the importance of incorporating qualitative methods in research processes to gain richer, more contextually grounded insights that can inform policy- making, social programs, and educational practices. Social implications: The research can influence public attitudes by promoting a more nuanced understanding of social phenomena. It underscores the value of qualitative research in capturing human experiences and behaviors, which could be used to inform social policy and educational reforms. Originality/value: This paper contributes to the field by offering a comprehensive exploration of qualitative research methods, highlighting their relevance in capturing the complexities of social phenomena. It is of value to researchers in social sciences, education, and policy development who seek to integrate qualitative approaches into their research methodologies. Keywords: qualitative research, observation, interviews, social phenomena, research methodology. Category of the paper: Research Paper, Conceptual Paper.

<div class="WordSection1"><p>I am honored for being an alumnus of KEMC, and am delighted to write this editorial for the Annals. I have, ever since done my research and taught qualitative methods, felt that clinical methods are quite akin to qualitative research. Then, why only few clinical researchers use qualitative methods? A witness to this assumption is the research published in the Annals. In this treatise, I try to identify some parallels between the two types of methods and argue for the clinicians to invest in learning qualitative research methods to practice clinical methods well.</p><p> Qualitative research is to identify and interpret issues from the perspective of participants, their experience of: illness or disability, using health service, and to appreciate the meanings they give to the behaviour, events or objects in the context of their social and cultural norms. In this type of research, the emphasis is on exploring the associations and understanding the phenomenon in its holism; and not, like in quantitative research, from an outsider’s perspective and for certain specific aspects.<sup>1</sup> It requires participants with specific characteristics, selected purposely that can best inform the research topic. More participants, identified inductively during data collection, are added to develop full and multiple perspectives about the cases.<sup>2</sup></p><p> No preset data collection tool is used, instead qualitative researcher guided by a research question acts as an instrument, since the line of enquiry he changes during data collection as new understanding is gained and/or the situation changes.<sup>3</sup> The data for research is derived from the observation, interviews or verbal interactions, focus group discussions, document reviews, life histories etc. and the researcher asks why, how and under what circumstances things occur; and not just what, where and when. It is recorded in words or pictures and log book is used to record notes arising from interviews, observations, extracts from documents etc.</p><p> In health care settings patients are the subjects for clinical methods. The clinician, even prior to any verbal communication, observes the patient, e.g. for his gait and appearance. If in a bed or examination couch, his posture could give some clue to the illness. Inspection, a clinical method, is like systematic observation, which is qualitative method, should be holistic. In my third year during bedside teaching, Professor (late) Rashid Ahmed Qureshi said, <em>“patient has come to you as a whole and not his stomach in a tray”</em>, when a student straight went to examine abdomen of a patient with acute abdomen. History taking, another clinical method, is like conducting semi structured in depth interview – a qualitative research method. In both disciplines, we are told, <em>“not to ask leading, but follow up and probing questions”; </em>and Professor (late) Alamgir Khan, while teaching clinical methods, would add, <em>“if a good history is taken, you will establish diagnosis in over 65% of cases”. </em>Likewise, as part of history taking, documents related to patient’s illness history and treatment are reviewed similar to document review in qualitative research.</p><p> The two approaches however differ in how the data is analysed. In clinical practice, diagnosis is established based on the pathophysiological knowledge or patient’s clinical condition is discussed in clinicopathological conference.<sup>4</sup> On the other hand, qualitative research employs meaning based data analysis, whereby the qualitative data is transformed into some form of explanation, understanding or interpretation of people and situation that is investigated.<sup>5,6</sup></p><p> In conclusion, the history, the observation and the review of document related to patient are since obtainned using qualitative methods, the clinician trained in these methods could not only conduct these methods well but also interpret the data to identify and detect obstacles to the change in clinical condition and the reasons why improvement does or does not occur.<sup>7</sup> Finally, while it is heartening that research forums are organised in the institutions affiliated with KEMU, in order the research is richer, the researchers’ skills in qualitative research methods should be built.</p></div>

1. Michelle Butina, PhD, MLS(ASCP)CM[⇑][1] 1. University of Kentucky, College of Health Sciences, Lexington, KY 2. Suzanne Campbell, PhD, MLS(ASCP)CM 1. Seward County Community College/Area Technical School, Liberal, KS 3. Wendy Miller, EdD, MT(ASCP)SI 1. Elgin Community College, Elgin, IL <!-- --> 1. Address for Correspondence: Michelle Butina, PhD, MLS(ASCP)CM, Assistant Professor and Program Director, Medical Laboratory Science, University of Kentucky, College of Health Sciences, 900 South Limestone Street, CTW Bldg. Rm. 126E, Lexington, KY 40536-0200, (859) 218-0852, Michelle.Butina{at}uky.edu 1. Compare and contrast qualitative and quantitative research methods and their uses. 2. Identify the five commonly used qualitative research methods. > "Within the last twenty years qualitative research has become a mature field of study with its own literature base, research journals, special interest groups, and regularly scheduled conferences". > > - Dr. Sharan B. Merriam, professor of adult education and continuing education, University of Georgia, 2009 INTRODUCTION Medical laboratory practitioners know how to perform experiments and have participated in surveys. However qualitative research and its methods remain an unknown to many in the medical laboratory science profession. This series provides readers with an introduction to qualitative research methods. A simple definition of qualitative research is not possible; therefore a description of its purpose and characteristics is provided. As Merriam (2009) described, "Qualitative researchers are interested in understanding how people interpret their experiences, how they construct their worlds, and what meaning they attribute to their experiences." The primary characteristics of qualitative research include: 1) the focus on understanding peoples' experiences with intent to convey experiences into meaning, 2) the researcher is the key instrument for data collection and analysis, 3) the research process is inductive and not deductive, and 4) the product of qualitative research is richly descriptive. Other characteristics of qualitative research include that the study design is often emergent and flexible, data is often collected in the natural setting, multiple forms of data may be collected, and sample selection is usually purposeful and small.1,2 Qualitative versus Quantitative There are three approaches to research, qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods. The qualitative research approach was introduced and described in the section above. A… 1. Compare and contrast qualitative and quantitative research methods and their uses. 2. Identify the five commonly used qualitative research methods. [1]: #corresp-1

Qualitative Versus Quantitative The literature on methodology distinguishes between qualitative and quantitative research methods. The term ‘qualitative’ does not refer to the quality of methods. Qualitative methods are those that are oriented towards the discovery of qualities of things – that is, the properties of objects, phenomena, situations, people, meanings and events. In contrast, quantitative methods are oriented towards the number or amount of these qualities. This chapter discusses a number of qualitative research methods that can be used in FPS projects. For quantitative research methods, we refer the reader to textbooks on social science methodology, such as those by Cooper and Schindler (2014) and Hair et al. (2005). Imagine marketing managers who would like to know the opinions of potential customers about a television commercial. They could ask some respondents to talk freely about their feelings with regard to the commercial, their associations, what they like about it and what they do not, and so on. Such a study would be qualitative in nature, since it aims to uncover the characteristics of people, in this case their attitude towards the commercial. The same marketing manager could also use a standardized questionnaire and ask respondents to express the degree to which they understand and like the commercial on a fivepoint scale. Such a study would be quantitative in nature, since it measures the value of a particular property in numbers. Qualitative research methods are particularly appropriate for studying people, groups, organizations and societies – for example, if you want to learn how people interpret their own situation, what their goals in life and work are and what strategies they employ to reach those goals. Such understanding is needed in most business problem-solving projects. Because there can be large and multifaceted differences between people and situations, it is often not effective to employ (only) a standardized measuring instrument. Qualitative research methods are relevant within more fields than just the social sciences. The natural and technical sciences use qualitative methods as well. Hendrik Casimir, a respected physicist and long-time director of Philips Laboratories, has stated: For although it is certainly true that quantitative measurements are of great importance, it is a grave error to suppose that the whole of experimental physics can be brought under this heading.

&lt;p&gt;Existing discussion of the relationships between globalization, communication research, and qualitative methods emphasizes two images: the challenges posed by globalization to existing communication theory and research methods, and the impact of post-colonial politics and ethics on qualitative research. We draw in this paper on a third image – qualitative research methods as artifacts of globalization – to explore the globalization of qualitative communication research methods. Following a review of literature which tentatively models this process, we discuss two case studies of qualitative research in the disciplinary subfields of intercultural communication and media audience studies. These cases elaborate the forces which influence the articulation of national, disciplinary, and methodological identities which mediate the globalization of qualitative communication research methods.&lt;/p&gt;

The Gondomanan region is filled with increasingly active economic activity nowadays. As a result, changes cannot be avoided. This phenomenon results in old buildings such as indies buildings decreasing in quality and even being at risk of disappearing. Therefore preservation efforts in the form of revitalization activities must be carried out to keep the legacy from being destroyed. Developed countries in Europe and Britain have been carrying out conservation activities since World War I. The Indonesian government has also made conservation efforts as evidenced by the Law No. 11 of 2010 concerning Cultural Heritage. The purpose of this study is to analyze how the application of the concept of revitalization in indies buildings to still have office functions while also adjusting to the current conditions, so that they are considered successful in applying the concept of revitalization to provide economic, social, and cultural value. The method used is a qualitative method where data is obtained from literature studies and field observations then being analyzed to obtain information in the form of revitalization efforts that have been made. The results of this study show that the revitalization efforts in the case study are considered successful because the changes that occurred are not too significant and adjusted to the principles of the preservation of Burra Charter, seen from the aspects of spatial layout, facade, material, structure, and color. Keywords: Conservation-Preservation, Indies Architecture, Office Building, Revitalization

1. Demirgüç-Kunt A, Klapper L, Singer D, Ansar S, Hess J. The Global Findex Database 2017: Measuring Financial Inclusion and the Fintech Revolution. Washington, DC: World Bank; 2018.2. Mohieldin M, Iqbal Z, Rostom A, Fu X. The Role of Islamic Finance in Enhancing Financial Inclusion in Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Countries. Washington, DC: The World Bank; 2011. Policy Research Working Paper No. 5920.3. Ahmed H. Financial Inclusion and Islamic Finance: Organizational Formats, Products, Outreach, and Sustainability. J Econ Coop Dev. 2013;34(3):1-38.4. Dusuki AW, Abdullah NIM. Maqasid al-Shariah, Maslahah, and Corporate Social Responsibility. Am J Islam Soc Sci. 2007;24(1):25-45.5. Otoritas Jasa Keuangan (OJK). Survei Nasional Literasi dan Inklusi Keuangan Syariah 2022. Jakarta: OJK; 2022.6. Bank Indonesia. Laporan Ekonomi dan Keuangan Syariah 2023. Jakarta: Bank Indonesia; 2023.7. Pradhan RP, Arvin MB, Nair M, Hall JH. Does Financial Literacy Promote Financial Inclusion in the Digital Era? Evidence from Emerging Economies. J Econ Behav Organ. 2024;212:143-154.8. Creswell JW, Poth CN. Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design: Choosing Among Five Approaches. 4th ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications; 2018.9. Patton MQ. Qualitative Research and Evaluation Methods: Integrating Theory and Practice. 4th ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications; 2015.10. Bowen GA. Document Analysis as a Qualitative Research Method. Qual Res J. 2009;9(2):27-40.11. Lincoln YS, Guba EG. Naturalistic Inquiry. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications; 1985.12. Braun V, Clarke V. Using Thematic Analysis in Psychology. Qual Res Psychol. 2006;3(2):77-101.13. Silver C, Lewins A. Using Software in Qualitative Research: A Step-by-Step Guide. London: Sage Publications; 2014.14. Corbin J, Strauss A. Basics of Qualitative Research: Techniques and Procedures for Developing Grounded Theory. 4th ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications; 2015.15. Hassan R. Ethics and Social Responsibility in Islamic Research: The Principles of Amanah, ‘Adl, and Mas’uliyyah. Int J Islam Manag. 2011;3(1):1-12.16. Iqbal M, Mirakhor A. An Introduction to Islamic Finance: Theory and Practice. 2nd ed. Singapore: John Wiley &amp; Sons; 2011.17. Hassan M, Aliyu S. Financial Inclusion and Islamic Finance: An Empirical Analysis. J Islamic Econ. 2018;5(3):113-125.18. Azra A. Reformasi Pendidikan Islam: Menjawab Tantangan Zaman. Jakarta: Kencana; 2017.19. Northouse PG. Leadership: Theory and Practice. 8th ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications; 2018.20. Sulaiman M, Syed Ibrahim S, Adnan A. Sharia Leadership in Islamic Finance: Case Studies from Malaysia. J Islamic Manag. 2020;3(2):28-42.21. Demirgüç-Kunt A, Klapper L, Singer D, Van Oudheusden P. The Global Findex Database 2021: Financial Inclusion, Digital Payments, and Resilience in the Age of COVID-19. Washington, DC: World Bank; 2022.22. Bowen GA. Document Analysis as a Qualitative Research Method. Qual Res J. 2009;9(2):27-40.23. Creswell JW, Poth CN. Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design: Choosing Among Five Approaches. 4th ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications; 2018.24. Patton MQ. Qualitative Research and Evaluation Methods: Integrating Theory and Practice. 4th ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications; 2015.

Plain English summaryPatient engagement (or patient and public involvement) in health research is becoming a requirement for many health research funders, yet many researchers have little or no experience in engaging patients as partners as opposed to research subjects. Additionally, many patients have no experience providing input on the research design or acting as a decision-making partner on a research team. Several potential risks exist when patient engagement is done poorly, despite best intentions. Some of these risks are that: (1) patients’ involvement is merely tokenism (patients are involved but their suggestions have little influence on how research is conducted); (2) engaged patients do not represent the diversity of people affected by the research; and, (3) research outcomes lack relevance to patients’ lives and experiences.Qualitative health research (the collection and systematic analysis of non-quantitative data about peoples’ experiences of health or illness and the healthcare system) offers several approaches that can help to mitigate these risks. Several qualitative health research methods, when done well, can help research teams to: (1) accurately incorporate patients’ perspectives and experiences into the design and conduct of research; (2) engage diverse patient perspectives; and, (3) treat patients as equal and ongoing partners on the research team.This commentary presents several established qualitative health research methods that are relevant to patient engagement in research. The hope is that this paper will inspire readers to seek more information about qualitative health research, and consider how its established methods may help improve the quality and ethical conduct of patient engagement for health research.BackgroundResearch funders in several countries have posited a new vision for research that involves patients and the public as co-applicants for the funding, and as collaborative partners in decision-making at various stages and/or throughout the research process. Patient engagement (or patient and public involvement) in health research is presented as a more democratic approach that leads to research that is relevant to the lives of the people affected by its outcomes. What is missing from the recent proliferation of resources and publications detailing the practical aspects of patient engagement is a recognition of how existing research methods can inform patient engagement initiatives. Qualitative health research, for example, has established methods of collecting and analyzing non-quantitative data about individuals’ and communities’ lived experiences with health, illness and/or the healthcare system. Included in the paradigm of qualitative health research is participatory health research, which offers approaches to partnering with individuals and communities to design and conduct research that addresses their needs and priorities.DiscussionThe purpose of this commentary is to explore how qualitative health research methods can inform and support meaningful engagement with patients as partners. Specifically, this paper addresses issues of: rigour (how can patient engagement in research be done well?); representation (are the right patients being engaged?); and, reflexivity (is engagement being done in ways that are meaningful, ethical and equitable?). Various qualitative research methods are presented to increase the rigour found within patient engagement. Approaches to engage more diverse patient perspectives are presented to improve representation beyond the common practice of engaging only one or two patients. Reflexivity, or the practice of identifying and articulating how research processes and outcomes are constructed by the respective personal and professional experiences of researchers and patients, is presented to support the development of authentic, sustainable, equitable and meaningful engagement of patients as partners in health research.ConclusionsResearchers will need to engage patients as stakeholders in order to satisfy the overlapping mandate in health policy, care and research for engaging patients as partners in decision-making. This paper presents several suggestions to ground patient engagement approaches in established research designs and methods.

In the current era of artificial intelligence, large language models such as ChatGPT and BARD are being increasingly used for various applications, such as language translation, text generation, and human-like conversation. The fact that these models consist of large amounts of data, including many different opinions and perspectives, could introduce the possibility of a new qualitative research approach: Due to the probabilistic character of their answers, “interviewing” these large language models could give insights into public opinions in a way that otherwise only interviews with large groups of subjects could deliver. However, it is not yet clear if qualitative content analysis research methods can be applied to interviews with these models. Evaluating the applicability of qualitative research methods to interviews with large language models could foster our understanding of their abilities and limitations. In this paper, we examine the applicability of qualitative content analysis research methods to interviews with ChatGPT in English, ChatGPT in German, and BARD in English on the relevance of computer science in K-12 education, which was used as an exemplary topic. We found that the answers produced by these models strongly depended on the provided context, and the same model could produce heavily differing results for the same questions. From these results and the insights throughout the process, we formulated guidelines for conducting and analyzing interviews with large language models. Our findings suggest that qualitative content analysis research methods can indeed be applied to interviews with large language models, but with careful consideration of contextual factors that may affect the responses produced by these models. The guidelines we provide can aid researchers and practitioners in conducting more nuanced and insightful interviews with large language models. From an overall view of our results, we generally do not recommend using interviews with large language models for research purposes, due to their highly unpredictable results. However, we suggest using these models as exploration tools for gaining different perspectives on research topics and for testing interview guidelines before conducting real-world interviews.

The success of innovations hinges on the relevant stakeholders' perceptions. While the success of some innovations—for example, those related to consumer products—often depends on only one stakeholder, the buyer, the success of other innovations, such as renewable energy sources, depends on multiple stakeholders. The traditional trend of focusing on only one stakeholder, the buyer, bears the risk of failing innovation adoption simply because it ignores other relevant stakeholders. We show the potential value of personas for the adoption and acceptance by multiple stakeholders of innovations related to renewable energy. We introduce personas as a qualitative research method because they offer clear and memorable access to relevant stakeholders' needs, goals, and frustrations regarding an innovation. We provide a valuable blueprint of a persona development process based on an acknowledged qualitative research method–thematic analysis. We also offer guidelines on developing personas and showcase how rigorous qualitative research can address existing critiques of persona development methods. Our study includes a case example of persona development based on 27 semi-structured interviews with different stakeholders of our case of agrivoltaics. Agrivoltaics is a dual land-use approach in which crop and energy production are combined in a complementary beneficial relationship. Based on this case, we demonstrate how personas offer a valuable qualitative research method to achieve better innovation development and adoption based on the perceptions of critical stakeholders toward innovations in society.

Background. The use of qualitative research (QR) methods is recommended as good practice in discrete choice experiments (DCEs). This study investigated the use and reporting of QR to inform the design and/or interpretation of healthcare-related DCEs and explored the perceived usefulness of such methods. Methods. DCEs were identified from a systematic search of the MEDLINE database. Studies were classified by the quantity of QR reported (none, basic, or extensive). Authors (n = 91) of papers reporting the use of QR were invited to complete an online survey eliciting their views about using the methods. Results. A total of 254 healthcare DCEs were included in the review; of these, 111 (44%) did not report using any qualitative methods; 114 (45%) reported “basic” information; and 29 (11%) reported or cited “extensive” use of qualitative methods. Studies reporting the use of qualitative methods used them to select attributes and/or levels (n = 95; 66%) and/or pilot the DCE survey (n = 26; 18%). Popular qualitative methods included focus groups (n = 63; 44%) and interviews (n = 109; 76%). Forty-four studies (31%) reported the analytical approach, with content (n = 10; 7%) and framework analysis (n = 5; 4%) most commonly reported. The survey identified that all responding authors (n = 50; 100%) found that qualitative methods added value to their DCE study, but many (n = 22; 44%) reported that journals were uninterested in the reporting of QR results. Conclusions. Despite recommendations that QR methods be used alongside DCEs, the use of QR methods is not consistently reported. The lack of reporting risks the inference that QR methods are of little use in DCE research, contradicting practitioners’ assessments. Explicit guidelines would enable more clarity and consistency in reporting, and journals should facilitate such reporting via online supplementary materials.

Mixed Methods Studies, which combine qualitative and quantitative research methods, are widely used across disciplines. However, in health promotion, quantitative methods dominate in most cases and qualitative methods are considered as an ‘add on’. By means of a Mixed Methods Study about the living situation of young people from refugee backgrounds, aged between 11 and 21 years, in an administrative district in Germany, in which quantitative and qualitative research methods are considered coequal, the issue of Mixed Methods Studies potential in health promotion is discussed. In this study, the perspectives of the young people from refugee backgrounds, their social workers from youth welfare office and local providers have been gathered. The young people from refugee backgrounds and their social workers have been consulted with a qualitative interview, whereas the local providers have been consulted in a standardised manner. The combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods to analyse the living situation of young people from refugee backgrounds gives a holistic and comprehensive insight in social, cultural and structural frame conditions, social policy’s challenges as well as individual requirements. Such Mixed Methods Studies prove suitable for health-related research, especially when it comes to quickly changing structural conditions, a difficultly accessible target group and highly personal issues.

Utilizing the potential in game mechanisms for learning purposes is not new. This version of gaming for learning is about developing a Digital Escape Room (DER) revolving around a specific subject: qualitative research methods. Qualitative research methods have proved to be a difficult topic for many UG and PG students. It is thus important to develop tasks that will enable these students to obtain a deep learning experience. The significance of this project lies in that both qualitative and quantitative research methods seem to be difficult to learn for students. It seems to be a curriculum that the students need to invest more time learning than they expect and are willing to spend. Hence, seeking to utilize the potential that lies in immersive gaming. One of the aims of this project is to investigate if and how the DER approach will suit the step-by-step approach that is often used in qualitative research methods courses. Will this approach of solving puzzle-by-puzzle, and then combining answers in order to unlock the next level enable an emergence of more understandings of what the qualitative research is about? In this theoretical paper (work-in-progress), we will look at the DER literature and describe how the different components of the DER will contribute to pedagogical support regarding learning outcomes. In this next phase of this project, we are planning to develop our DER based on the current literature and previous evaluations of DERs, we will also conduct more semi-structure interviews, and further investigation is underway.

The purpose of this focused issue is to advance understanding of qualitative research methods in the international business context. Debates on qualitative research methods in the key international business (IB) journals have been rare. There has been no focused issue on this topic previously, either in mir or in other journals in the field, making this a 'special' issue. During the process of editing a recent handbook on qualitative research methods (Marschan-Piekkari/Welch 2004), we realized that while this collection covered many topics, often for the first time in the IB field, there were many others still outstanding. There was thus scope for continuing a dialogue about qualitative methods in the IB research community. The challenge of making qualitative research count in the quantitative world of IB remains. Qualitative research is difficult to define, since the term encompasses many different research traditions, research strategies and methods for data collection and analysis (Prasad 2005). A typical definition is that everything non-numerical is qualitative research (Marschan-Piekkari/Welch 2004, p. 19). However, even this very simplistic definition soon breaks down, since research strategies which are typically considered to be qualitative, such as case studies, can combine numerical with non-numerical data (Hurmerinta-Peltomaki/Nummela 2004). There is also no clear divide between qualitative and quantitative research in terms of research traditions, with much qualitative research in management and IB sharing the positivist assumptions of quantitative research (Prasad/Prasad 2002). This focused issue is not about reporting the empirical findings of IB studies applying qualitative methods; rather it is about the process of undertaking qualitative research in the IB field. Of course, there is a large volume of literature on qualitative research methods already. However, we would argue that the IB context warrants special treatment. As the authors of this focused issue discuss, the distinctiveness of the field stems from its multiple linguistic and cultural settings; organizational complexity; and its intellectual roots in post-War academic institutions in the USA. These issues receive little treatment in general texts on qualitative methodology. There has been some methodological debate in previous issues of mir. Earlier articles in mircan be grouped into three categories: first, reviews of existing methodological practices in IB publications (e.g., Cavusgil/Das 1997, Nasif et al. 1991); second, proposals for new quantitative techniques (e.g., the use of key informants in cross-cultural studies, as proposed by Lenartowicz and Roth 2004 and a linguistic-based measure of cultural distance as developed by West and Graham 2004); and third, calls for new methodological approaches (Boddewyn/Iyer 1999). The absence of qualitative research methods in this debate perhaps reflects the limited amount of empirical qualitative research published in this journal. A recent analysis of mir issues between 1990 and 1999 revealed that only 5 percent of articles published in this period used qualitative methods (Welch/Welch 2004). This focused issue is therefore a response to those, such as Boddewyn and Iyer (1999) in this journal, who have called for alternatives to surveys and secondary data analysis. This focused issue attracted 39 submissions from more than 15 countries. Given that there have been limited outlets for methodological articles in IB, this is a considerable number. It perhaps suggests a level of interest to which IB journals have not responded to date. Of the total number of submissions, 11 were selected for review. On the basis of reviewers' comments, six of these papers were ultimately rejected. The final five papers underwent two and, in some cases, up to four rounds of revisions. In selecting the articles, we used the following criteria: appropriateness of the topic for the focused issue; demonstrated knowledge of IB and methodological literature; quality of argument; originality and innovativeness of the contribution to IB methodology; organization and clarity of the paper; and potential application to research practice in IB. …

Objectives: Qualitative health research can contribute to knowledge building in public health and medicine, but there is a lack of research-oriented training of qualitative methods at universities with public health programs and in medical schools. The aim of this paper is to describe our experiences in conceptualising, implementing and evaluating an elective on qualitative methods in the Master of Public Health (MPH) programme at the Medical Faculty of the Ludwig-Maximilians-University (LMU) Munich. Methods: A new research-oriented elective (3 Credit Points) was developed and delivered to MPH and medical students in summer 2016. This elective consisted of three blocks that were complemented by two practice sessions. The students worked in small groups. These groups developed a research question and a qualitative study design addressing the thematic focus of vaccinations. Each student conducted two semi-structured interviews with a semi-structured interview grid. Students transcribed the interviews, analysed them according to content analysis and presented the results collaboratively. Results: In that semester, 16 students successfully completed the elective. Groups of two to three students worked on their respective research questions, presented, and reflected on their research results. The participants evaluated the module as very good, particularly with regard to the structure and consistency of the blocks. To facilitate individualised mentoring and guidance, a high student-lecturer ratio is required. Timeframe and workload should pay tribute to the module's credit points. Conclusions: We successfully implemented a research-oriented elective providing a first-hand experience with qualitative health research methods. Students were able to learn about the theory and practical application of qualitative research in the field of medicine and public health.