Huston P, Rowan M
Department of Family Medicine, University of Ottawa.
Can Fam Physician. 1998 Nov;44:2453-8.
To define qualitative research in terms of its philosophical roots, the questions it addresses, its methods and analyses, and the type of results it can offer.
MEDLINE and CINAHL (Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature) databases were searched for the years January 1985 to April 1998. The search strategy consisted of "textword" terms that searched in the "title" field of both databases. Qualitative research and evaluation textbooks in health and the social sciences were also used.
The information on qualitative research is based on the most recent and valid evidence from the health and social science fields.
Qualitative research seeks to understand and interpret personal experience to explain social phenomena, including those related to health. It can address questions that quantitative research cannot, such as why people do not adhere to a treatment regimen or why a certain health care intervention is successful. It uses many methods of data collection, including participant observation, case studies, and interviews, and numerous approaches to data analysis that range from the quasistatistical to the intuitive and inductive.
Qualitative research, a form of research completely different from quantitative research, can provide important insights into health-related phenomena and can enrich further research inquiries.
从哲学根源、所解决的问题、方法与分析以及所能提供的结果类型等方面界定定性研究。
检索1985年1月至1998年4月期间的MEDLINE和CINAHL（护理学与相关健康文献累积索引）数据库。检索策略包括在两个数据库的“标题”字段中搜索的“文本词”术语。还使用了健康与社会科学领域的定性研究与评价教科书。
关于定性研究的信息基于健康与社会科学领域最新且有效的证据。
定性研究旨在理解和诠释个人经历以解释社会现象，包括与健康相关的现象。它能够解决定量研究无法解决的问题，比如人们为何不遵守治疗方案或某种医疗保健干预为何成功。它采用多种数据收集方法，包括参与观察、案例研究和访谈，以及从准统计到直观归纳等众多数据分析方法。
定性研究是一种与定量研究完全不同的研究形式，能够为与健康相关的现象提供重要见解，并能丰富进一步的研究探索。
