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A tale of red herrings and tails wagging dogs : making the case for qualitative research within medicine
Emerita Professor Rose Barbour, Open University and Director of Barbour Workshops Ltd.
While accepted to a degree that would never have been predicted even 20 years ago, the history of qualitative methods within medical research has been a rocky one. This paper asked whether - and how - it might be possible to reconcile two essentially opposing 'mindsets'. It starts by critically examining some of the somewhat hostile 'red herring' questions often asked of qualitative research, arguing that these are based on unrealistic expectations, deriving from another paradigm. Even when qualitative methods are enthusiastically embraced, however, the persistence of an underlying approach that strives for templates and 'bullet points', has, in many quarters, resulted in a situation that threatens to strip qualitative methods of their full potential. The situation is often not helped by qualitative researchers themselves, who sometimes veer towards the other extreme of making almost mystical and, certainly, unhelpful claims, overlooking, or even dismissing, the legitimate concerns of the medical researcher. A wide range of qualitative approaches vie for our attention, often promising - although not necessarily delivering - something distinctive, and the picture is confounded by the large array of methods, which do not map neatly onto these different approaches - further exasperating those in search of order. In practice, these various qualitative paradigms each have a very different take on something as apparently standard as a semi-structured interview, since they start with different concerns and are seeking to generate data that may bear little resemblance to that generated, even by other qualitative researchers. Disciplinary concerns and researchers' predispositions also have an important role in shaping research questions, data and analysis. The paper then moves on to consider rigour in qualitative research, outlining a set of questions that we should raise, although not in the spirit of 'tick-box checklists'. Crucially, these focus not on techniques or procedures, but rather on evaluating the potential contribution of qualitative methods within the context in which they are being proposed and used. Context is a property of qualitative research that is often vaunted, but, surprisingly, consideration of context is often absent from our own research collaborations with medical researchers. Only by engaging in frank, non-tribal, discussions - both with our medical research colleagues and with qualitative researchers of other persuasions - can we hope to develop creative and fit-for-purpose research designs that allow qualitative methods to assume their rightful place. This means being prepared to accept both the limitations of qualitative methods and the advantages of quantitative approaches; not just paying lip service to these, but by taking stock of and being open to the full range of resources at our disposal (in terms of data, samples, settings, and theoretical frameworks) and having the courage to forge fresh research designs. This does not mean, however, that we should become involved in religiously applying yet another set of formulaic mixed methods designs; only a genuinely open and non-partisan approach can ensure that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Not all qualitative research needs to be aligned to mixed methods approaches in order to make an impact, but we can only, ultimately, lose out, by refusing to place our findings in their broader context.
About the speaker: Professor Barbour, is a medical sociologist whose research career has covered a wide variety of topics located at the intersection of the clinical and the social - e.g. HIV/AIDS; reproductive health and fertility; psychosocial health; obesity; and the sociology of recovery. Her theoretical interests center on the links between identity and agency, and social and cultural capital. She has more than 25 years experience of teaching qualitative research methods to PhD students, early career researchers, and practitioners, and has a particular interest in qualitative research as craft and in methodological rigour. She has published widely in a range of academic journals and books. Her most recent books are Introducing Qualitative Research: A Student's Guide (Sage, 2014; 2nd edition) and Doing Focus Groups (Sage, 2007/8 - Book 4 of the Sage Qualitative Methods Kit; 2nd edition to be published 2016).
Date and location: 22 July 2016, 2.00pm-3.30pm, Seminar room, Wing A, 6th floor, Maple House, 149 Tottenham Court Road, London W1T 7NF.