BACKGROUND The researcher role is highly debated in qualitative research. This article concerns the researcher-researched relationship. METHODS A group of health science researchers anchored in various qualitative research traditions gathered in reflective group discussions over a period of two years. RESULTS Efforts to establish an anti-authoritarian relationship between researcher and res...

Happily, the RIME community has moved beyond the (tiresome) debate about whether qualitative research is as “good” or as “valuable” as quantitative research. We now take the view, most of us, that qualitative research presents a different way of exploring a different set of questions than those accommodated in quantitative studies.1 This progress has been good for medical education research, en...

Evaluation is essential for research quality and development, but the diversity of traditions that characterize qualitative research suggests that general checklists or shared criteria for evaluation are problematic. We propose an approach to research evaluation that encourages reflexive dialogue through use of an evaluation agenda. In proposing an evaluation agenda we shift attention from rule...

BACKGROUND Patient safety culture emerges from the shared assumptions, values and norms of members of a health care organization, unit, team or other group with regard to practices that directly or indirectly influence patient safety. It has been argued that organizational culture is an amalgamation of many cultures, and that subcultures should be studied to develop a deeper understanding of an...

Although qualitative research is gaining recognition in medicine and in medical education, most clinical teachers do not know how to perform a critical appraisal of articles in these fields. This article describes a grid for the critical appraisal of qualitative research articles so that clinical teachers are in a better position to evaluate this type of research and to teach the critical appra...

Increasing longevity and prevalence of long-term conditions contribute to older adults being the greatest users of health services. However, relatively little is known about the health and illness beliefs of the oldest old or how they decide to seek help in response to symptoms. Through analysis of in-depth interviews with day centre attendees aged 80-93, we find that a moral, hierarchical appr...

Qualitative research methods are enjoying unprecedented popularity. Although checklists have undoubtedly contributed to the wider acceptance of such methods, these can be counterproductive if used prescriptively. The uncritical adoption of a range of “technical fixes” (such as purposive sampling, grounded theory, multiple coding, triangulation, and respondent validation) does not, in itself, co...

Canadian autism policy has been unusually contentious, with parents resorting to litigation to secure services for their children in several provinces. To ascertain whether consensus was possible on improving services, we conducted an in-depth qualitative interview study with 39 parents, policymakers and researchers across the country. Parents vividly described the stresses of caring for their ...

This article focuses on the tensions between the commitment to power redistribution of the qualitative paradigm and the ethical and methodological complexity inherent in clinical research. Qualitative inquiry, in general, though there are significant variations between its different paradigms and traditions, proposes to reduce power differences and encourages disclosure and authenticity between...

OBJECTIVE To provide a framework for critically evaluating qualitative research to professionals interested in pediatric psychology. Qualitative methods emphasize the phenomenological experience of participants and may be pertinent to studying contextual factors that contribute to child health and well-being. METHOD A basic overview of the types of qualitative research, methodological procedu...