An introduction to qualitative research for clinicians (second volume) : What is critical is not the method, but the question
10.11307/mededjapan.48.2_91
- VernacularTitle:An introduction to qualitative research for clinicians (second volume) : What is critical is not the method, but the question
- Author:
Maho ISONO
1
Author Information
1. International University of Health and Welfare
- Keywords:
qualitative research;
cultural anthropology
- From:Medical Education
2017;48(2):91-99
- CountryJapan
- Language:Japanese
-
Abstract:
There is a growing interest in qualitative research among clinicians. However, because they are strongly influenced by the natural scientific philosophy that puts great value on the methodological correctness, these clinicians are usually overly concern with whether or not their method is appropriate. They tend to focus their energy on learning methods of qualitative research. In contrast, this paper argues that what is critical in qualitative research is not the method but the question. In qualitative research, method―which is defined here as a procedure of data analysis―is relatively simple and easy compared to various methods that quantitative research employs. Most of the methods in qualitative research merely explain how to semantically code data or chronologically sort it. For this reason, qualitative researchers should focus on the research question rather than the method and consider what kind of research question makes their targeted research field significant even if their sample size is small and their methods are not complicated. To produce valuable questions, this paper recommends that researchers take heed of the following five issues. (1) Researchers should suspend their aspirations of supporting their patients, patients' family members, and interns, and relativize their position as medical professionals. (2) They should conduct the pilot research so as to relativize their position and reflect the informants' perspectives on the research question. (3) & (4) They should endeavor to discover the theoretical framework shared by previous studies, and find a research question that only their collected research data is able to point out, one that previous literature has never argued. (5) They should avoid including abstract words such as experience, thoughts, and attitude in their research question and deconstruct these words into more concrete words so as to clarify their research interest. Lastly, this paper will introduce a research paper that has a significant research question and explain why this research paper is meaningful for clinicians who are interested in qualitative research.
