Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-fscjk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T09:27:07.669Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The principles and application of qualitative research

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 March 2007

Alizon K. Draper
Alizon K. Draper*
Affiliation:
School of Integrated Health, University of Westminster, 115 New Cavendish Street, London, W1W 8JS, UK
*
Corresponding author: Dr Alizon Draper, fax +44 20 7911 5000, email A.Draper@westminster.ac.uk
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

The present paper provides an overview of the methodological principles that underpinqualitative research and how these principles differ from those of quantitative research. It is intended to set the scene for the following papers that outline two specific approaches to the analysis of qualitative data. Within the tradition of qualitative research there are many different theoretical perspectives, of which these approaches are only two examples, but they need to be set within this broader tradition in order to highlight their specific features. Qualitative and quantitative research differ from each other in far more than their methods and data. They are each based on very different premises about both the nature of the world and the nature of our knowledge of it and how this information is generated. These approaches have implications for all aspects of research strategy, including the assessment of the quality of research findings and their wider utility or application. In relation to the latter, lack of detail in the reporting of qualitative research and small sample sizes has tended to create the impression that the findings of qualitative research have little application outside the particular research setting. While there is need for more rigor in reporting, it needs to be recognized that qualitative research can offer insights and understandings with wider relevance, althoughthese outcomes are of a different type from those provided by quantitative research.

Type
Workshop on ‘Developing qualitative research method skills: analysing and applying your results’
Information
Proceedings of the Nutrition Society , Volume 63 , Issue 4 , November 2004 , pp. 641 - 646
Copyright
Copyright © The Nutrition Society 2004

References

Brannen, J (editor)(1992) Combining qualitative and quantitative approaches: an overview. In Mixing Methods pp.3 – 37 Aldershot, Hants.: Avebury.Google Scholar
Conrad, P (1985) The meaning of medications: another look at compliance. Social Science and Medicine 20, 29–37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Creswell, JW (1998) Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design: Choosing Among Five Traditions.London: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Fade, S (2003) Communicating and judging the quality of qualitative research: the need for a new language. Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics 16, 139–149.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fade, S (2004) Using interpretative phenomenological analysis for public health nutrition and dietetic research: a practical guide. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society 63, 647–653.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gardner, K & Chapple, A (1999) Barriers to referral in patients with angina: qualitative study. British Medical Journal 319, 418–421.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Geertz, C (1973) The Interpretation of Cultures. New York:Basic Books Inc.Google Scholar
Glaser, B & Strauss, C (1967) The Discovery of Grounded Theory: Strategies for Qualitative Research. Chicago, IL: Aldine.Google Scholar
Green, J (1999) Generalisability and validity in quality research. British Medical Journal 319, 421.Google Scholar
Green, J & Thorogood, N (2004) Qualitative Methods for Health Research. London: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Greenhalgh, T & Taylor, R (1997) How to read a paper: papers that go beyond numbers (qualitative research). British Medical Journal 315, 740–743.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hoddinott, P & Pill, R (1999) Qualitative study of decisions about infant feeding among women in east end of London. British Medical Journal 318, 30–34.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Malinowski, B (1962) Argonauts of the Western Pacific. p.25, New York: EP Dutton & Co.Google Scholar
Mason, J (1996) Qualitative Researching. London: Sage Publications Ltd.Google Scholar
Mays, N & Pope, C (2000) Assessing quality in qualitative research. British Medical Journal 320, 50–52.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Miles, MB & Huberman, AM (1994) Qualitative Data Analysis. 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Nichter, M & Nichter, M (1996) The ethnophysiology and folk dietetics of pregnancy: a case study from South India. In Anthropology and International Health, pp.35 – 69 [Nichter, M and Nichter, M Editors] Amsterdam: Gordon and Breach Publishers.Google Scholar
Oakley, A (1990) Who's afraid of randomized controlled trials Women's Health Counts, pp.167 – 194 [Roberts, H, Editor] London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Pedersen, D (1992) Qualitative and quantitative: two styles of viewing the world or two categories of reality Rapid Assessment Procedures: Qualitative Methodologies for Planning and Evaluation of Health Related Programmes, pp.39 – 49 [Scrimshaw, NS and Gleason, GR, Editors] Boston, MA: International Nutrition Foundation for Developing Countries.Google Scholar
Rabiee, F (2004) Focus group interview and data analysis. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society 63, 655–660.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Seale, C & Silverman, D (1997) Ensuring rigour in qualitative research. European Journal of Public Health 7, 379–384.CrossRefGoogle Scholar