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A Systematic Approach for Using Qualitative Methods in Primary Prevention Research
Author(s) -
Willms Dennis G.,
Best J. Allan,
Taylor D. Wayne,
Gilbert J. Raymond,
Wilson Douglas M. C.,
Lindsay Elizabeth A.,
Singer Joel
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
medical anthropology quarterly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.855
H-Index - 55
eISSN - 1548-1387
pISSN - 0745-5194
DOI - 10.1525/maq.1990.4.4.02a00020
Subject(s) - fieldnotes , qualitative research , interpretation (philosophy) , sociocultural evolution , relevance (law) , psychology , smoking cessation , psychological intervention , sociology , medicine , ethnography , social science , computer science , anthropology , pathology , psychiatry , political science , law , programming language
In this article we delineate a systematic approachfor incorporating qualitative methods in research on primary prevention. Using examples from our studies of both smoking and cessation processes, we describe our procedure in four consecutive stages: (]) interviews and fieldnotes, (2) case studies or life histories, (3) discourse and content analyses to identify emergent issues and themes which are subsequently standardized as codes, and (4) the interpretation of sociocultural patterns and idioms of bodily experience. The relevance of qualitative methods in primary preventive medicine is discussed with examples from our own research on smoking. We argue that this form of basic research is an essential precursor to culturally effective interventions in clinical as well as community settings.