Conducting and Publishing Qualitative Research in Medicine and Healthcare

Join presenter, Warren (“Wren”) Bareiss, PhD and Professor of Communication, University of South Carolina Upstate and Editor‐in‐Chief, Qualitative Research in Medicine & Healthcare for this two part workshop.

Most researchers conducting health-based research have been trained in quantitative research and writing methods. In contrast, qualitative research and writing methods are often not taught thoroughly, if at all, in graduate medical programs, leaving researchers without skills needed to explore the valuable lessons afforded by qualitative methods. Qualitative research moves deeply into the lives, experiences, beliefs, values and behaviors of patients and caregivers; it helps us to understand illness and healthcare in ways that we might have never imagined because it is inherently explorative.

Qualitative research is based on conversation rather than measurement, interpretation rather than description. Forms that qualitative research takes include focus groups, narrative analysis, interviews, ethnography and participant observation.

Writing qualitative research is no less rigorous than its quantitative counterpart, but it is very different in tone and purpose. Taking a more inductive than deductive approach, qualitative research is about asking questions rather than making predictions. It gives voice to participants (patients, family caregivers and healthcare providers) and then interprets what those participants are saying, based on established theory and preceding scholarship.

Qualitative research takes us into the lives of participants so that we can better understand their perceptions and experiences. It helps us understand why patients, family members, and providers behave and think as they do because it allows us to see the world from their
perspectives.

*This is a two part workshop and you can sign up for one or both dates.

**This is being held in the Family Medicine Conference room on the 5th floor.