School of Medicine
Special Topic Educational Skills Workshop
Qualitative Analysis

Faculty:

Bridget O’Brien, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine
Office of Medical Education

Arianne Teherani, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Medicine
Director, Program Evaluation
Office of Medical Education

Studies that use qualitative research methods are appearing more frequently in medical journals. This session will provide an overview of some of the assumptions of qualitative research approaches and common qualitative methods. We will identify appropriate questions for qualitative research and discuss how to evaluate qualitative studies. We will also address the evaluation of qualitative research, the use of multi-method approaches to research, and the applicability of qualitative methods to medical education research.

During this session, participants will divide into groups for interactive exercises, providing opportunities to practice:

• Designing a study that uses qualitative methods.
• Using qualitative methods to analyze data.
• Critically examining and reviewing qualitative research.
• Reviewing methods of qualitative data collection, analysis, and software that could be used to investigate research questions.

At the end of this session, participants should be able to:

• Identify underlying assumptions of qualitative research.
• Identify appropriate questions for qualitative research.
• Review and discuss different qualitative methods, including data collection and analysis.
• Evaluate basic components of qualitative research.
• Discuss combining qualitative and quantitative research methods.