Whose quality of care is it anyway? Methodological issues in evaluating residential care for the mentally ill

The paper reports on issues of methodology regarding the evaluation of residential care for mentally ill people. A literature review examines the development of research approaches to studying residential care practices, from qualitative descriptive studies to quantitative comparative studies. The difficulty of definition and measurement in high-quality residential care is discussed. Findings are presented from an ethnographic study of care structure and process, and the experience of staff and clients, conducted in two residential care settings. Anomalies are reported in the use of quantitative and qualitative research methods. There is a discussion of methodological issues that arise from anomalous findings.