Contribution that Qualitative Approaches Make to an Understanding of Health Care - Essay Example

The Importance of Qualitative Research Qualitative methodology is best defined by its ability to garner broader inference with respect to the points of views, feelings, and other oftentimes difficult to measure psychological responses to the way in which health care is administered. For instance, two particular approaches to alleviating pain in a patient might be measured and interpreted quantitatively; however, the actual qualitative measurement with respect to greatest effect could reveal an entirely different reality.

There have been many cases in medical research in which the best and most rigorous quantitative results have been contradicted by a simplistic yet actionable form of a qualitative study that has focused upon the patient and the psychological needs and understanding that he/she might exhibit. Qualitative approaches are not necessarily better than quantitative approaches; instead, the determination is based upon the situation and whether or not one form of analysis will yield a higher degree of inference with respect to the research question as compared to another.