Using qualitative mixed methods to study small health care organizations while maximising trustworthiness and authenticity

BMC Health Services Research

Sally Hall³  Christopher Pearce¹  Julie Hepworth⁴  Kathryn Dwan⁵  Christine B Phillips² 

[1] Inner East Medicare Local, Burwood, Victoria, Australia;Medical School, Peter Baume Building 42A, Australian National University, Canberra 2601, ACT, Australia;Medical School, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia;School of Public Health and Social Work, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia;Australian Primary Health Care Research Institute, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia

关键词: Mixed method research;    Qualitative analysis;    Qualitative research;    Organizations;    Primary health care;   

Others  :  1091560
DOI  :  10.1186/s12913-014-0559-4

 received in 2014-05-19, accepted in 2014-10-24,  发布年份 2014

【 摘 要 】

Background

The primary health care sector delivers the majority of health care in western countries through small, community-based organizations. However, research into these healthcare organizations is limited by the time constraints and pressure facing them, and the concern by staff that research is peripheral to their work. We developed Q-RARA—Qualitative Rapid Appraisal, Rigorous Analysis—to study small, primary health care organizations in a way that is efficient, acceptable to participants and methodologically rigorous.

Methods

Q-RARA comprises a site visit, semi-structured interviews, structured and unstructured observations, photographs, floor plans, and social scanning data. Data were collected over the course of one day per site and the qualitative analysis was integrated and iterative.

Results

We found Q-RARA to be acceptable to participants and effective in collecting data on organizational function in multiple sites without disrupting the practice, while maintaining a balance between speed and trustworthiness.

Conclusions

The Q-RARA approach is capable of providing a richly textured, rigorous understanding of the processes of the primary care practice while also allowing researchers to develop an organizational perspective. For these reasons the approach is recommended for use in small-scale organizations both within and outside the primary health care sector.

【 授权许可】

   
2014 Phillips et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

【 图 表 】

Figure 1.

Figure 2.

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