Qualitative research in the context of Public Health: concept update

Abstract

Qualitative approaches in research have been fundamental in the social sciences and are crucial to the study of health and health services. With progress in medicine, greater specialization, increasing patient expectations and the complexity of health services, professionals face an increasingly complicated work environment. Qualitative methods, although different from the experimental and quantitative techniques of clinical and biomedical research, are essential for health services research. This is because they allow us to explore aspects that are not quantitatively measurable, such as beliefs about health, and because they provide a necessary descriptive basis for quantitative research, especially in fields with little previous research.