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Critical appraisal of published qualitative research

Tutors

Dr Katrina Turner (course organiser), Dr Jeremy Horwood, Dr Ailsa Cameron, Dr Maggie Evans, Dr Alice Malpass, Professor Gene Feder

How to book on the course

Duration

One day

Dates

02 May 2012

Course Fee

£200

Course aims and objectives

• To provide participants with an understanding of how to critically appraise qualitative research papers.
• By the end of the course students should be able to:
• describe the main qualitative methods used in health services research;
• discuss how to assess the reliability, validity and trustworthiness of different qualitative methods;
• locate checklists and guides for critically appraising qualitative studies;
• understand the purpose of critical appraisal when doing a meta-analysis of qualitative papers;
• critically assess qualitative papers published in social science and medical journals.

Who the course is intended for

Postgraduate students, health services researchers, public health specialists and other health care professionals who would like to extend their critical appraisal skills to include qualitative research. A basic understanding of qualitative research methods would be an advantage but is not essential.

Teaching Time

Seven hours consisting of short lectures and small group work. The emphasis is on interactive learning through discussion and participation. Pre-course reading will be provided and additional materials are supplied during the course.

Suggested reading

Barbour R. (2001) Checklists for improving rigour in qualitative research: a case of the tail wagging the dog? BMJ, 322: 1115 - 1117

Greenhalgh, T. and Taylor, R. (1997) How to read a paper: Papers that go beyond numbers (qualitative research). BMJ, 315: 740 - 743

Kuper, A., Lingard, L. and Levinson, W. (2008) Critically appraising qualitative research.  BMJ, 337, 687-692.

Kuper, A., Reeves, S. and Levinson, W. (2008) An introduction to reading and appraising qualitative research.  BMJ, 337, 404-407.

Malterud, K. (2001) Qualitative research: standards, challenges, and guidelines. Lancet, 358: 483 - 488

Mays, N. and Pope, C. (2000) Qualitative research in Health Care: Assessing quality in qualitative research. BMJ, 320: 50 - 52

Murphy, E., Dingwall, R., Greatbatch, D., Parker, S. and Watson, P. (1999) Criteria for assessing qualitative research in Murphy et al. Qualitative research methods in health technology assessment: a review of the literature. Health Technology Assessment, 2: 167 - 198

Popay, J., Williams, G. and Rogers A. (1998) Rationale and standards for the systematic review of qualitative literature in health services research. Qual Health Res, 8: 341 - 351

Thorne, S., Jensen, L., Kearney, MH., Noblit, G. and Sandelowski, M. (2004) Qualitative metasynthesis: reflections on methodological orientation and ideological agenda. Qual Health Res, 14: 1342 - 1365

For further information: please contact short-course@bristol.ac.uk