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Health Services Research Dec 2013Mixed methods research offers powerful tools for investigating complex processes and systems in health and health care. This article describes integration principles and...
Mixed methods research offers powerful tools for investigating complex processes and systems in health and health care. This article describes integration principles and practices at three levels in mixed methods research and provides illustrative examples. Integration at the study design level occurs through three basic mixed method designs-exploratory sequential, explanatory sequential, and convergent-and through four advanced frameworks-multistage, intervention, case study, and participatory. Integration at the methods level occurs through four approaches. In connecting, one database links to the other through sampling. With building, one database informs the data collection approach of the other. When merging, the two databases are brought together for analysis. With embedding, data collection and analysis link at multiple points. Integration at the interpretation and reporting level occurs through narrative, data transformation, and joint display. The fit of integration describes the extent the qualitative and quantitative findings cohere. Understanding these principles and practices of integration can help health services researchers leverage the strengths of mixed methods.
Topics: Data Collection; Data Interpretation, Statistical; Health Services Research; Humans; Information Storage and Retrieval; Research Design; Systems Integration
PubMed: 24279835
DOI: 10.1111/1475-6773.12117 -
Health Services Research Dec 1999To provide an overview of reasons why qualitative methods have been used and can be used in health services and health policy research, to describe a range of specific... (Review)
Review
OBJECTIVE
To provide an overview of reasons why qualitative methods have been used and can be used in health services and health policy research, to describe a range of specific methods, and to give examples of their application.
DATA SOURCES
Classic and contemporary descriptions of the underpinnings and applications of qualitative research methods and studies that have used such methods to examine important health services and health policy issues.
PRINCIPAL FINDINGS
Qualitative research methods are valuable in providing rich descriptions of complex phenomena; tracking unique or unexpected events; illuminating the experience and interpretation of events by actors with widely differing stakes and roles; giving voice to those whose views are rarely heard; conducting initial explorations to develop theories and to generate and even test hypotheses; and moving toward explanations. Qualitative and quantitative methods can be complementary, used in sequence or in tandem. The best qualitative research is systematic and rigorous, and it seeks to reduce bias and error and to identify evidence that disconfirms initial or emergent hypotheses.
CONCLUSIONS
Qualitative methods have much to contribute to health services and health policy research, especially as such research deals with rapid change and develops a more fully integrated theory base and research agenda. However, the field must build on the best traditions and techniques of qualitative methods and must recognize that special training and experience are essential to the application of these methods.
Topics: Focus Groups; Health Services Research; Humans; Interviews as Topic; Observation; Organizational Case Studies; Policy Making; Quality Assurance, Health Care; Research Design
PubMed: 10591275
DOI: No ID Found -
Health Services Research Dec 1999Varying philosophical and theoretical orientations to qualitative inquiry remind us that issues of quality and credibility intersect with audience and intended research... (Review)
Review
Varying philosophical and theoretical orientations to qualitative inquiry remind us that issues of quality and credibility intersect with audience and intended research purposes. This overview examines ways of enhancing the quality and credibility of qualitative analysis by dealing with three distinct but related inquiry concerns: rigorous techniques and methods for gathering and analyzing qualitative data, including attention to validity, reliability, and triangulation; the credibility, competence, and perceived trustworthiness of the qualitative researcher; and the philosophical beliefs of evaluation users about such paradigm-based preferences as objectivity versus subjectivity, truth versus perspective, and generalizations versus extrapolations. Although this overview examines some general approaches to issues of credibility and data quality in qualitative analysis, it is important to acknowledge that particular philosophical underpinnings, specific paradigms, and special purposes for qualitative inquiry will typically include additional or substitute criteria for assuring and judging quality, validity, and credibility. Moreover, the context for these considerations has evolved. In early literature on evaluation methods the debate between qualitative and quantitative methodologists was often strident. In recent years the debate has softened. A consensus has gradually emerged that the important challenge is to match appropriately the methods to empirical questions and issues, and not to universally advocate any single methodological approach for all problems.
Topics: Data Collection; Health Services Research; Humans; Quality Assurance, Health Care; Quality Control; Reproducibility of Results; Research Design
PubMed: 10591279
DOI: No ID Found -
Healthcare Policy = Politiques de Sante Feb 2021In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic unexpectedly upended everyone's life, from sudden mass unemployment to family separations. In spite of this upheaval, health systems and...
In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic unexpectedly upended everyone's life, from sudden mass unemployment to family separations. In spite of this upheaval, health systems and services research carried on. Often, these efforts supported public health efforts to slow the spread of the virus.
Topics: COVID-19; Canada; Costs and Cost Analysis; Delivery of Health Care; Health Services Research; Humans
PubMed: 33720819
DOI: 10.12927/hcpol.2021.26438 -
American Journal of Public Health Apr 2015
Topics: Health Services Research; Health Status; Humans; Public Health Administration; Systems Analysis; United States
PubMed: 25689189
DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2015.302625 -
CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association... Dec 2017
Topics: Canada; Editorial Policies; Health Services Research; Humans; Periodicals as Topic
PubMed: 29229709
DOI: 10.1503/cmaj.171389 -
Health Services Research Aug 1998
Topics: Health Services Research; Humans; Physician-Patient Relations; Social Responsibility
PubMed: 9685115
DOI: No ID Found -
Journal of Epidemiology and Community... Dec 1992
Topics: Cost-Benefit Analysis; Health Policy; Health Services Needs and Demand; Health Services Research; Quality of Life
PubMed: 1494066
DOI: 10.1136/jech.46.6.553 -
BMC Medicine Jun 2018Complexity is much talked about but sub-optimally studied in health services research. Although the significance of the complex system as an analytic lens is...
Complexity is much talked about but sub-optimally studied in health services research. Although the significance of the complex system as an analytic lens is increasingly recognised, many researchers are still using methods that assume a closed system in which predictive studies in general, and controlled experiments in particular, are possible and preferred. We argue that in open systems characterised by dynamically changing inter-relationships and tensions, conventional research designs predicated on linearity and predictability must be augmented by the study of how we can best deal with uncertainty, unpredictability and emergent causality. Accordingly, the study of complexity in health services and systems requires new standards of research quality, namely (for example) rich theorising, generative learning, and pragmatic adaptation to changing contexts. This framing of complexity-informed health services research provides a backdrop for a new collection of empirical studies. Each of the initial five papers in this collection illustrates, in different ways, the value of theoretically grounded, methodologically pluralistic, flexible and adaptive study designs. We propose an agenda for future research and invite researchers to contribute to this on-going series.
Topics: Health Services Research; Humans
PubMed: 29921272
DOI: 10.1186/s12916-018-1089-4 -
Health Education & Behavior : the... Aug 2013
Topics: Adolescent; Adolescent Behavior; Adolescent Development; Adolescent Health Services; Health Services Research; Humans; Parent-Child Relations; Resilience, Psychological; Risk-Taking
PubMed: 23863911
DOI: 10.1177/1090198113493782