Bower Elizabeth, Scambler Sasha
Department of Oral Health Services Research and Dental Public Health, King's College London Dental Institute, London, UK.
Community Dent Oral Epidemiol. 2007 Jun;35(3):161-9. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-0528.2006.00368.x.
Dental public health (DPH) researchers have traditionally relied on quantitative methods for scientific enquiry. This paper argues that qualitative methodology can make a significant contribution to DPH knowledge and practice because it allows researchers to answer important questions of relevance to procedure and policy that are difficult to answer satisfactorily using quantitative methods alone. Qualitative research can also challenge the norms and assumptions of DPH practice. There are tensions in the relationship between qualitative research and the prevailing paradigm of evidence-based practice (EBP) which potentially influence the utility of DPH-related qualitative research. However, the relevance of qualitative research is increasing as the scope of EBP enquiry extends beyond questions of effectiveness, and methods are developed for incorporating qualitative research into systematic reviews.
牙科公共卫生（DPH）研究人员传统上依赖定量方法进行科学探究。本文认为，定性方法可以对DPH知识和实践做出重大贡献，因为它使研究人员能够回答与程序和政策相关的重要问题，而这些问题仅靠定量方法难以令人满意地回答。定性研究还可以挑战DPH实践的规范和假设。定性研究与循证实践（EBP）的主流范式之间的关系存在紧张关系，这可能会影响与DPH相关的定性研究的效用。然而，随着EBP探究的范围超越有效性问题，并且开发了将定性研究纳入系统评价的方法，定性研究的相关性正在增加。
