The document provides an overview of qualitative research methods, outlining key concepts in the first session. It defines qualitative research as a strategy for collecting and interpreting non-numerical data through methods like observation and interviews. The characteristics of qualitative research include exploring phenomena in their natural settings and interpreting findings from an emergent and holistic viewpoint. Examples of qualitative research types discussed are narrative research, ethnography, phenomenology, case studies, and grounded theory. The document concludes by listing common steps and examples of qualitative studies conducted in healthcare contexts.

1. Fundamentals of Qualitative
Research Methods
Session 1
Butheina Surkhi ,PhD

2. Overview of Session 1
 First session (50 min) :
 Goal
 Introduction
 What is qualitative research
 Characteristics of qualitative research
 Types of qualitative research
 Examples of qualitative research
 Steps in qualitative research

3. Goal
To enhance our capacity to conceptualize ,
design , and conduct qualitative research in
health science

4. Not everything that can be counted counts, and
not everything that counts can be counted .
(Einstein)

5. When to use qualitative research ?
 To explore an issue or problem
 To study a group or population, identify variables that cannot be easily measured,
or hear silenced voices.
 To empower individuals to share their stories, hear their voices
 To understand the contexts or settings in which participants in a study address a
problem or issue.
 Help explain the mechanisms, process or linkages in causal theories or models.
 To develop theories when partial or inadequate theories exist for certain
populations and samples or existing theories do not adequately capture the
complexity of the problem
 Statistical analyses simply do not fit the problem

6. Qualitative insights research in Health
 Experiences of illness, or of interactions with different health care providers
 Knowledge and understanding of a given issue -understanding of the body and health
in a certain cultural context (quality of care)
 Meanings derived by people based on their knowledge and experience.
 Explanations and rationale given by people to justify their decisions and actions
 Social institutions (norms and rules)that govern people’s lives and dictate expectations
and behavioral norms (healthcare accessibility)
 Social processes, that involve how people communicate and interact to fulfil social goals
(patient- physicains interactions)

7. What is qualitative research ?
 A strategy for systemic collection, organization , and
interpretation of textual information.
 A research based upon non-numerical data obtained in natural
settings through extensive observation and interviews whose
primary aim is the interpretation of phenomena and the
discovery of the meaning.

8. Characteristics of qualitative research
 The natural setting
 The researcher as instrument
 Emergent approach
 Interpretative approach
 A holistic view
 Reflexivity
 Use of deductive and inductive reasoning and

9. Types of qualitative research

10. 1- Narrative research
 Collect stories from individuals about individuals’ lived and told
experiences
 Notice in the following example how the purpose statement focuses on a single
individual and conveys a life history of the individual:
 The author describes and analyzes the process of eliciting the life history of a man
with mental retardation. (Angrosino, 1994, p. 14)

11. 2- Ethnographic research
• Focuses on an entire culture-sharing or social groups .
• Ethnography has been used in topics related to health beliefs and practices,
allowing these issues to be viewed in the context in which they occur and therefore
helping broaden the understanding of behaviors related to health and illness.
From an ethnography of “ballpark” culture, the author creates a description of the
employees as a culture-sharing group
 This article examines how the work and the talk of stadium employees reinforce certain
meanings of baseball in society, and it reveals how the work and the talk create and maintain
ballpark culture. (Trujillo, 1992, p. 351)

12. 3- Phenomenological research
 Essene of human of human experience
 Describing what all participants have in common as they experience a phenomenon
 The phenomenon under study may be emotions, relationships, a programme, an
organization or a culture.
See in the following example how the exploration is clearly of a single phenomenon the role of
these individuals as fathers:
 The present study was designed to explore the beliefs, attitudes, and needs that current and
expectant adolescent fathers and young men who are fathers of children born to adolescent
mothers have regarding their role as a father. (Lemay, Cashman, Elfenbein, & Felice, 2010, p.
222)

13. 4- CASE STUDY
• Case –study the investigator explores a real-life, contemporary bounded system (a case) or
multiple bounded systems (cases) over time, through detailed, in-depth data collection involving
multiple sources of information (e.g., observations, interviews, audiovisual material, and
documents and reports), and reports a case description and case themes.
 to study the impact of the current situation on vulnerable Palestinian groups in East Jerusalem in
order to explore the situation of the disenfranchised clusters and advocate for them (Dhaher, S. H.
(2017).

14. 5- Grounded THEORY RESEARCH
The inquirer generates a general explanation (a theory) of a
process, an action, or an interaction shaped by the views of a
large number of participants.

15. Examples of qualitative research in Health
 Health communication: Toward a phenomenological perspective
 Strategies for Implementation of Electronic Health Records
 Exploring the perceptions of health care leaders: Colorectal cancer screening barriers among Chinese
Canadian women
 Health care professionals' perceptions of the use of electronic medical records
 An exploration of older adults' health literacy experiences: A grounded theory study
 Breaking the Silence: Postpartum Depression Among Reproductive-aged Women in Akwa Ibom
State, Nigeria
 Impact of Occupational Health Interventions in Indonesia
 Perceptions on Maternal Mortality Among the Ekpeye Community
 Employee Inclusion in Change: Exploring the Experience of Middle Managers in Non-profit Home
Healthcare Organizations – A Qualitative Narrative Inquiry
 Provider influence in shaping women's beliefs about protection against sexually transmitted
diseases: Case study

16. Steps in the qualitative research problem