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Beyond exploratory: a tailored framework for designing and assessing qualitative health research
Open accessAbstract
The objective of this commentary is to develop a framework for assessing the rigour of qualitative approaches that identifies and distinguishes between the diverse objectives of qualitative health research, guided by a narrative review of the published literature on qualitative guidelines and standards from peer-reviewed journals and national funding organisations that support health services research, patient-centered outcomes research and other applied health research fields. In this framework, we identify and distinguish three objectives of qualitative studies in applied health research: exploratory, descriptive and comparative. For each objective, we propose methodological standards that may be used to assess and improve rigour across all study phases—from design to reporting. Similar to hierarchies of quality of evidence within quantitative studies, we argue that standards for qualitative rigour differ, appropriately, for studies with different objectives and should be evaluated as such. Distinguishing between different objectives of qualitative health research improves the ability to appreciate variation in qualitative studies and to develop appropriate evaluations of the rigour and success of qualitative studies in meeting their stated objectives. Researchers, funders and journal editors should consider how further developing and adopting the framework for assessing qualitative rigour outlined here may advance the rigour and potential impact of this important mode of inquiry.
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“Consistent with best practices of the constant comparative method, 22,23 the study team cycled through multiple iterations of themes related to care setting, looking for unexpected and disconfirming evidence.”
From Care setting transitions for people with dementia: Qualitative perspectives of current and former care partners (2023) · cites this paper as [23]
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Metadata
- Authors
- Rendle, K. A., Abramson, C. M., Garrett, S. B., Halley, M. C., & Dohan, D.
- Affiliations
- University of Pennsylvania (US)
- University of Arizona (US)
- University of California, San Francisco (US)
- Palo Alto Medical Foundation (US)
- Corresponding author
- Rendle, Katharine A
- Venue
- BMJ Open
- Publisher
- BMJ
- Published
- 2019-08
- Volume
- 9
- Issue
- 8
- Pages
- e030123
- ISSN
- 2044-6055 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC6720470
- OpenAlex
- W2970520008
- Cited by
- 195
- References
- 38
- Citations by year
- 2026: 27 · 2025: 46 · 2024: 38 · 2023: 36 · 2022: 35 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 4
- FWCI
- 32.40
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by-nc
- Locations
- BMJ Open (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- HighWire Press Open Archive (acceptedVersion)
- UA Campus Repository (The University of Arizona) (acceptedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Funders
- Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (ME-1409-22996)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Education › Qualitative Research Methods and Applications
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Qualitative Research Methods and Ethics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Health Policy Implementation Science
- Keywords
- qualitative health research, scientific rigor, methodological standards, research objectives, exploratory research, descriptive research, comparative analysis, quality assessment framework, reporting guidelines, health services research, patient-centered outcomes research, research funding agencies, journal editorial guidelines
- MeSH terms
- Health Services Research, Humans, Research Design, Qualitative Research, Patient Outcome Assessment
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