Qualitative methods and the commercial determinants of health: Insights from the social sciences

While the commercial determinants of health (CDoH) is a growing field of study, insufficient attention has been paid to developing its qualitative methodological and theoretical contributions. CDoH researchers may benefit from considering the social science community's usage of qualitative methodological tools such as case studies for theory development, causal mechanisms and process-tracing for improved causal inference. While CDoH researchers have become interested in quantitative methods and establishing indicators and datasets for comparative statistical analysis, this article finds limitations with this approach and suggests that researchers focus first on establishing ample case study qualitative evidence with the eventual goal of devising theory-informed quantitative indicators and datasets. The timing is propitious for CDoH researchers and social scientists to work together to strengthen CDoH's methodological and theoretical contributions.