Showing papers by "Shifalika Goenka published in 2001"

Qualitative research: A need to uncap its potential

Abstract: INTRODUCTION It is a paradox and challenge that research in health technology and interventions makes rapid progress in India while organized basic care for the majority of patients lags far behind. This gap seems to be widening; the true beneficiaries of research-the patients at large-are unaware ofthe advances in medicine and primary care providers are unable to deliver the benefits of research. It is necessary to find out why the health care available at present is not effective and why the results of quantitative research are not implemented. We need to use a research methodology which offers detail, depth and understanding and which takes context and socio-economic factors into account. Qualitative research is particularly effective for discovering why the results of quantitative research are often not implemented.' Qualitative research methodologies are the most appropriate when questioning why the presently available health care interventions/services are not as effective as they should be. Using the methodologies, it is possible to get answers that will help improve health care/health care delivery at possibly no extra cost. Moreover, the results give clues and insights into practical intervention strategies.' Qualitative research may seem unscientific and anecdotal to many clinicians. However, as the critics of evidence-based medicine are quick to point out, medicine itself is more than just an application of scientific rules. Clinical experience based on personal observations, reflection and judgement is also needed to translate scientific results into the treatment of individual patients. Qualitative methods can help bridge the gap between scientific evidence and clinical practice.' Though decried by the protagonists of quantitative methods, the two approaches are complementary rather than competitive.!" Although qualitative approaches seem alien alongside experimental and quantitative methods in clinical and biomedical approaches, they should be an essential component of health services research. They not only enable us to access areas not amenable to quantitative approaches, but also because qualitative description is a prerequisite for good quantitative research, particularly in areas that have previously received little attention.'