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Qualitative research

About: Qualitative research is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 39957 publications have been published within this topic receiving 2390470 citations. The topic is also known as: Qualitative method.


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Journal Article
01 Jan 2008-BMJ
TL;DR: In this paper, the difference between qualitative and quantitative research and the need for doctors to be able to interpret and appraise qualitative research is explored. But they do not discuss the differences between the two types of research.
Abstract: This article explores the difference between qualitative and quantitative research and the need for doctors to be able to interpret and appraise qualitative research.

504 citations

Journal Article
TL;DR: In this article, Sandelowski and Barroso present guidelines for synthesizing findings of qualitative research using a series of steps, starting with the formulation of a problem and a statement of purpose.
Abstract: This handbook presents guidelines for synthesizing findings of qualitative research.After discussing the importance of such synthesis for building knowledge, in the second chapter the authors introduce definitions of and types of qualitative research synthesis.They view the synthesis as a study comprising a series of steps, starting with the formulation of a problem and a statement of purpose. In chapter 3 the authors focus on the steps of retrieving all research reports and determining their relevance to the study domain. In chapter 4 they describe strategies for appraising individual study reports and for conducting a comparative appraisal. Comparative appraisal consists of displaying key elements of the studies included in the synthesis and comparing them in order to determine whether they confirm, extend, refute, or complement each other. In chapter 5 Sandelowski and Barroso discuss issues encountered in appraising the quality of qualitative studies and present a typology of findings that can be used to classify results. In chapters 6 and 7 they describe the process of implementing the two types of qualitative research synthesis, metasummary and metasynthesis. In chapter 8 the authors review strategies for maintaining validity of qualitative research synthesis and in chapter 9 they review content and format for presenting the results of the synthesis. Sandelowski and Barroso are to be commended for addressing a controversial topic, and for refining the types of qualitative research findings and procedures for conducting a synthesis of these findings.They clarify the arguments advanced by proponents and opponents of the qualitative research synthesis, thereby facilitating our understanding of the rationale underlying the two types of synthesis. Conceiving the synthesis as a study that is conducted in steps, similar to those entailed in a metaanalysis, helps us to view the process as a systematic one with a welldefined sequence of steps.The book is structured accordingly, starting with the formulation of a researchable problem, moving on to the conduct of an extensive search of the relevant literature, then to an appraisal and synthesis of findings across studies, and ending with CJNR 2008,Vol. 40 No 3, 179 –180

504 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A grounded theory of library anxiety was constructed from personal writing collected in beginning composition courses over a two-year period and found that students generally feel that their own library-use skills are inadequate while the skills of other students are adequate.
Abstract: This qualitative study explored the feelings of students about using the library for research. Personal writing, collected in beginning composition courses over a two-year period, was analyzed for recurrent themes. It was found that 75 to 85 percent of the students in these courses described their initial response to library research in terms of fear. Three concepts emerged from these descriptions: (1) students generally feel that their own library-use skills are inadequate while the skills of other students are adequate, (2) the inadequacy is shameful and should be hidden, and (3) the inadequacy would be revealed by asking questions. A grounded theory of library anxiety was constructed from these data.

503 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors provide an overview of secondary analysis of qualitative data, based on work examining the nature and use of the methodology in social research, and reflect on the ways in which researchers have so far utilized qualitative data in secondary studies.
Abstract: ?Sekund?ranalyse qualitativer Daten: Ein ?berblick?. This paper provides an overview of secondary analysis of qualitative data, based on work examining the nature and use of the methodology in social research. It clarifies what secondary analysis is and how the methodology relates to other similar approaches used in qualitative research. It looks at the development of secon dary analysis in qualitative research, and some of the factors that have shaped this. And it examines the ways in which researchers have re-used qualitative data in published studies to date, describing which sources of data have been re-used, by whom and for what purposes. As well as reflecting on the ways in which researchers have so far utilized qualitative data in secondary studies, the paper also looks forward to some of the challenges that lie ahead.

499 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The challenges of finding the findings in qualitative studies are described to find ways to present findings that will make them discernible to the diverse audiences for whom they are intended, including researchers and practitioners.
Abstract: Purpose: To describe the challenges of finding the findings in qualitative studies. Method: Review of literature on representation in qualitative research and analysis of 99 reports of qualitative studies of women with HIV infection. Findings: Factors complicating finding the findings in qualitative studies include varied reporting styles, misrepresentation of data and analytic procedures as findings, misuse of quotes and theory, and lack of clarity concerning pattern and theme. Theses and dissertations present special challenges because they often contain several of these problems. Conclusions: Given the varied beliefs about findings among qualitative researchers, the challenge is to find ways to present findings that will make them discernible to the diverse audiences for whom they are intended, including researchers and practitioners.

498 citations


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Performance
Metrics
No. of papers in the topic in previous years
YearPapers
20242
20236,582
202213,526
20213,149
20202,696
20192,694