Promoting Publication of Rigorous Qualitative Research

Abstract

In the basic sciences, investigators frequently conduct descriptive studies as a prelude to formulating and testing hypotheses. These discovery studies can be quite unbounded at the outset as investigators accumulate novel information that will serve as the building blocks for future studies. In the clinical sciences, descriptive studies are also common, but they are almost always based on data collected as standardized variables using quantitative methods. Such an approach implies either that available data are sufficient or that we have enough knowledge to define the precise data that are required. However, in many cases, we are in a more formative phase of understanding a given research area, particularly when we study healthcare delivery and issues relating to complex clinical care, rather than whether a drug, device, or clinical strategy produces a specific effect.1 When we are in an early phase of understanding a research question, qualitative methods may be the best approach. And yet, research that uses qualitative methods is infrequently published in the mainstream medical literature. There are many possible explanations for this relative absence. Few individuals may be gaining the necessary skills to pursue this type of research, as training opportunities and teachers are scarce in typical research training programs. Few investigators may be obtaining funds to pursue qualitative research, as large medical research funding organizations issue only a small number of direct …