Aita Virginia, McIlvain Helen, Susman Jeffrey, Crabtree Benjamin
University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, USA.
Qual Health Res. 2003 Dec;13(10):1419-31. doi: 10.1177/1049732303255999.
Metaphors offer exciting opportunities to identify and explore tacit knowledge and behavior that are embedded in complex organizations and shape health care practices. In this article, the authors explore the theoretical rationale, background, and advantages of using metaphor as an analytic strategy in qualitative health research. They used an analysis of 18 practices in a comparative case study designed to explore office practice strategies for delivering cancer prevention services for illustrations. During the individual and comparative stages of the analysis process, researchers heeded the metaphors that they used in their descriptive language of practices. The authors explore examples showing how metaphors clarify unwritten assumptions, values, and motivators that shape variations in practice behavior.
隐喻为识别和探索隐含于复杂组织中并塑造医疗保健实践的隐性知识和行为提供了令人兴奋的机会。在本文中，作者探讨了在定性健康研究中使用隐喻作为分析策略的理论依据、背景和优势。他们在一项比较案例研究中对18种实践进行了分析，该研究旨在探索提供癌症预防服务的办公室实践策略以作例证。在分析过程的个体和比较阶段，研究人员留意他们在对实践的描述性语言中所使用的隐喻。作者探讨了一些例子，展示了隐喻如何阐明塑造实践行为差异的不成文假设、价值观和动机。
