[The science of the art of medicine. Qualitative methods in medical research].

Qualitative research methods dominate in the humanities (history, literature), theology, law and some social sciences (ethnography). The authors claim that using such research traditions could expand the scientific field of medical research, and that qualitative methods can be tools for medical scientists to gain knowledge of matters that until now have been obscure. This article presents some characteristics of these research traditions: Qualitative researchers tend more often to formulate questions and hypotheses than provide answers. They produce arguments for a given result, and do not pretend to prove facts. The qualitative researcher works mainly with texts (documents, transcriptions of interviews etc.) not with numbers and statistics. The article presents a survey of qualitative research methods, and gives examples of the use of these methods in medical research in general practice. Finally the authors discuss the problems connected to using the concept of "science" in everyday medical practice.