Qualitative Health Research: ADVANCED module: Appraising qualitative health research

Qualitative health research helps grasp behaviors and practices of patients and populations, combined with the meaning health professionals and stakeholders give to their practices and actions, both are known to underlie and influence health practices. 

By giving particular attention to the context of an intervention, qualitative research is particularly effective for evaluating programs and practices in the public health field. It allows to reflect on the broader health care context, with its socio-cultural and historical features.

Objectives

• Understanding the main features of qualitative methods and approaches
• Overview of tools such as interviews, focus groups and participant/non-participant observation
• Organizing data collection and coding and analysis

This basic module will guide participants in understanding and defining the main specificities of qualitative methods and approaches. It will help them plan and organize the data collection and familiarize them with data coding and analysis. 

An emphasis will be put on the importance of the theoretical frameworks underlying the interpretive process of researchers. It will focus on the choice of tools and the concrete use of interviews, focus groups and participant observation. 

Learning outcomes: define qualitative research, choose between several designs and tools and develop a qualitative research protocol.