This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citation map  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Citing articles on Web of Science (91)  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Related article  • Similar articles in JAMA  Topic Collections  • Quality of Care  • Evidence-Based Medicine  • Statistics and Research Methods  • Alert me on articles by topic  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

XXIII. Qualitative Research in Health Care

B. What Are the Results and How Do They Help Me Care for My Patients?

Mita K. Giacomini, PhD; Deborah J. Cook, MD; for the Evidence-Based Medicine Working Group

JAMA. 2000;284:478-482.

The second part of this 2-part series on how to interpret qualitative research addresses, "what are the results," and, "how do they help me care for my patients?" Qualitative analysis is a process of summarizing and interpreting data to develop theoretical insights that describe and explain social phenomena such as interactions, experiences, roles, perspectives, symbols, and organizations. Key results are often illustrated with excerpts from interview transcripts, field notes, or documents. The results of a qualitative research report are best understood as an empirically based contribution to ongoing dialogue and exploration. Empirically based theory evolves from a process of exploration, discovery, analysis, and synthesis. Each concept should be defined carefully in a way that is meaningful to the reader. Concepts should be adequately developed and illustrated when theoretical conclusions are drawn. Arguments should be explained and justified. The qualitative research report ideally should address how the findings relate to other theories in the field. The qualitative study can provide a useful road map for understanding and navigating similar social settings interactions, or relationships.

Author Affiliations: Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics (Drs Giacomini and Cook), Centre for Health Economics and Policy Analysis (Dr Giacomini), Department of Medicine, Divisions of General Medicine and Critical Care for the Evidence-Based Medicine Working Group (Dr Cook), McMaster University, Faculty of Health Sciences, Hamilton, Ontario.

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?

RELATED ARTICLE

July 26, 2000
JAMA. 2000;284(4):505-506.
EXTRACT | FULL TEXT  

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

Quantitative and qualitative research: Received and interpretivist views of science
Dharamsi and Scott
cfp 2009;55:843-844.
FULL TEXT  

The principle of justice in patient priorities in the intensive care unit: the role of significant others
Halvorsen et al.
J. Med. Ethics 2009;35:483-487.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Expanding the value of qualitative theories of illness experience in clinical practice: a grounded theory of secondary heart disease prevention
Ononeze et al.
Health Educ Res 2009;24:357-368.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Is Qualitative Research High Quality Research?
Saxena and Wiedermann
AAP Grand Rounds 2009;21:64-64.
FULL TEXT  

Educational Research Questions and Study Design
Horn et al.
Acad. Psychiatry 2009;33:261-267.
FULL TEXT  

Evaluating the Impact of Organizational Changes in Health Care Delivery: Challenges in Study Design
Schrag
JCO 2009;27:1744-1745.
FULL TEXT  

Qualitative and Mixed Methods Provide Unique Contributions to Outcomes Research
Curry et al.
Circulation 2009;119:1442-1452.
FULL TEXT  

"You Get What You Get": Unexpected Findings About Low-Income Parents' Negative Experiences With Community Resources
Silverstein et al.
Pediatrics 2008;122:e1141-e1148.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Information and participation in decision-making about treatment: a qualitative study of the perceptions and preferences of patients with rheumatoid arthritis
Schildmann et al.
J. Med. Ethics 2008;34:775-779.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Qualitative Sampling Methods: A Primer for Technical Communicators
Koerber and McMichael
Journal of Business and Technical Communication 2008;22:454-473.
ABSTRACT  

Substance Abuse Issues Among Women in Domestic Violence Programs: Findings From North Carolina
Martin et al.
Violence Against Women 2008;14:985-997.
ABSTRACT  

Evaluative Criteria for Qualitative Research in Health Care: Controversies and Recommendations
Cohen and Crabtree
Ann Fam Med 2008;6:331-339.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Obstacles to Implementing Evidence-Based Dentistry: A Focus Group-Based Study
Hannes et al.
J Dent Educ 2008;72:736-744.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Ethical opinions and personal attitudes of young adults conceived by in vitro fertilisation
Siegel et al.
J. Med. Ethics 2008;34:236-240.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education Competencies: Practice-Based Learning and Systems-Based Practice
Moskowitz and Nash
American Journal of Medical Quality 2007;22:351-382.
 

Grading Gems: Appraising the Quality of Research for Social Work and Social Care
Taylor et al.
Br J Soc Work 2007;37:335-354.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

A Statewide Public Health Approach to Improving Organ Donation: The Massachusetts Organ Donation Initiative
Koh et al.
AJPH 2007;97:30-36.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Writing the Methods
Coverdale et al.
Acad. Psychiatry 2006;30:361-364.
FULL TEXT  

Helping practitioners understand the contribution of qualitative research to evidence-based practice
Newman et al.
Evid. Based Nurs. 2006;9:4-7.
FULL TEXT  

Shared Decision Making and the Experience of Partnership in Primary Care
Saba et al.
Ann Fam Med 2006;4:54-62.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Patient perspectives of patient-provider communication after adverse events
Duclos et al.
Int J Qual Health Care 2005;17:479-486.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Patient-Perceived Usefulness of Online Electronic Medical Records: Employing Grounded Theory in the Development of Information and Communication Technologies for Use by Patients Living with Chronic Illness
Winkelman et al.
J. Am. Med. Inform. Assoc. 2005;12:306-314.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Searching for Evidence-Based Medicine in the Literature Part 3: Assessment
Bartkowiak
Clin Med Res 2005;3:113-115.
FULL TEXT  

Lay Understanding of Familial Risk of Common Chronic Diseases: A Systematic Review and Synthesis of Qualitative Research
Walter et al.
Ann Fam Med 2004;2:583-594.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Why hypertensive patients do not comply with the treatment: Results from a qualitative study
Gascon et al.
Fam Pract 2004;21:125-130.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Commentary
Todd and Griffiths
Clin Nurs Res 2004;13:24-32.
 

Evidence, Methods, and Psychiatric Education
Roberts et al.
Acad. Psychiatry 2003;27:227-228.
FULL TEXT  

Evaluation of qualitative research studies
Russell and Gregory
Evid. Based Nurs. 2003;6:36-40.
FULL TEXT  

Transferability of principles of evidence based medicine to improve educational quality: systematic review and case study of an online course in primary health care
Greenhalgh et al.
BMJ 2003;326:142-145.
FULL TEXT  

Qualitative Studies on the Patient's Experience of Weaning From Mechanical Ventilation
Cook et al.
Chest 2001;120 :469S-473S.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Design in Observational Research on the Discourse of Medicine: Toward Disciplined Interdisciplinarity
Barton
Journal of Business and Technical Communication 2001;15:309-332.
ABSTRACT  

Why Don't Low-Income Mothers Worry About Their Preschoolers Being Overweight?
Jain et al.
Pediatrics 2001;107:1138-1146.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

The rocky road: qualitative research as evidence
Giacomini
Evid. Based Med. 2001;6:4-6.
FULL TEXT  

Erythropoietin: A Paradigm for the Development of Practice Guidelines
Rizzo et al.
ASH Education Book 2001;2001:10-30.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT