Introduction to Qualitative Methods: A Practical Primer for Clinicians

Qualitative study designs provide critical insights into pressing health care problems by answering why, how, and what questions: Why do patients not adhere to medications? How do providers use guidelines? What clinic features contribute to quality of care? Qualitative methods often consist of interviews or focus groups but also can include observations or archival data. These methods elucidate patient and provider experiences, behaviors, or beliefs; describe phenomena; and provide rich insights into local contexts. While family medicine has long acknowledged the value of qualitative research, clinicians and medical educators may have limited exposure. Our objectives are to (a) orient clinicians to qualitative research, and (b) guide them through the stages of qualitative study design, from planning, to data collection, to analyses, on through dissemination of a final product. We describe the tenets of qualitative inquiry: an insider perspective, holism, attention to power dynamics, reflexivity, and flexibility. We explain how to choose among qualitative data collection methods, such as interviews, focus groups, observation, and archival data review. Lastly, we provide key considerations for analyzing qualitative data, disseminating final product(s), and maximizing methodological quality. This practical guide for clinicians gives a grand tour of the overall purpose of and approaches to qualitative study designs and offers considerations when using qualitative methods in research and quality improvement studies.