Learning the Concept of Researcher as Instrument in Qualitative Research

TLDR: The authors discuss how a student with a Master's degree in economics enrolled in an Advanced Qualitative Research course as a part of a subsequent Master's Degree in Applied Health Services Research (MASHR) and was guided to expand her thinking about the nature of evidence and the concept of researcher as the primary instrument or medium through which the research is conducted.

Abstract: A naive view of qualitative research is that it can be conducted according to the canons of quantitative research and, as such, that it is merely a modification of quantitative research. More disconcerting is the view that qualitative research is second class. However, Sandeloswki (2004) reminds us that an important contribution of qualitative research is that it "complicates and thereby unfreezes the idea of evidence, foregrounds the politics in definitions of evidence, and precludes a priori prejudices against certain types of evidence" (p. 1382). To become a qualitative researcher requires a whole new way of thinking about what counts as evidence. Unlike in the natural sciences, where an Archimedean point is prized for its vantage point of total objectivity of the researcher in relation to the object of study, qualitative researchers accept that evidence is not a given, fixed reality. Thus, qualitative health researchers challenge the hegemony of a hierarchy of evidence based solely on the allure of the randomized control trial as the gold standard in health care research. They take a much more nuanced and complex view of what constitutes evidence in health research. In this article we discuss how a student with a Master's degree in Economics enrolled in an Advanced Qualitative Research course as a part of a subsequent Master's Degree in Applied Health Services Research (MASHR) and was guided to expand her thinking about the nature of evidence and the concept of researcher "as the primary instrument or medium through which the research is conducted" (Lofland, Snow, Anderson, & Lofland, 2006, p. 3). Being told that qualitative research is different from quantitative research is different than actually experiencing the difference. We believe that learning how the researcher plays a central role in generating and interpreting data in qualitative research assists neophyte qualitative researchers in understanding the complexity inherent in qualitative research. To provide a context for the discussion we first describe the background on the unique nature of the master's program; subsequently, we describe how within the course the student was guided to develop an appreciation for qualitative research. Context of the Educational Program The Atlantic Regional Training Centre Atlantic Canada is a largely rural area especially when compared to other parts of Canada and the United States. Thus, increasing capacity for health service research has been a focus of the Atlantic Regional Training Centre (ARTC), which is one of four applied health research training centres funded by the Canadian Health Services Research Foundation and the Canadian Institutes for Health Research through the Capacity for Applied and Developmental Research and Evaluation initiative. The ARTC is a collaborative endeavor among four Atlantic Canada universities (Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia, Memorial University of Newfoundland, the University of New Brunswick and the University of Prince Edward Island), offering both a MAHSR and opportunities for PhD studies. The master's program consists of eight courses in health care research plus "rotating theme-based workshops as forums for interchanges among decision makers, students, and faculty; a residency placement where students apply theory and concepts within a decision-making organization; the involvement of health decision makers in thesis work; and dissemination of research results to decision makers parallel to traditional academic requirements" (ARTC, nd, [paragraph] 5). Students in the MASHR program come from diverse disciplines and backgrounds and may have limited background in the healthcare field. By the end of the program, students are expected to demonstrate grounding in scholarly research techniques and a comprehensive understanding of distinct theoretical and practical perspectives underpinning a multidisciplinary understanding of key issues in health service policy, administration, and delivery (ARTC, nd). …