- 1When should we choose qualitative research?A community health worker program in rural Kenya shows good numbers, and the women missing from those averages show why counting alone is not enough. What qualitative research is, the assumptions and reflexivity behind it, and when to choose it over or alongside quantitative work, with perinatal mental health support for adolescents in Nairobi and Lilongwe.8 min
- 2Five primary qualitative approachesEthnography, grounded theory, phenomenology, case studies and participatory research, each with what it is, when to use it, how it works and its limitations. Examples include antiretroviral therapy adherence in Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda, vaccination governance in northwest Syria, and participatory action research on COVID-19 in rural Pakistan, then how to choose among the five.13 min
- 3Three mixed methods designsMixed methods research integrates quantitative and qualitative data to answer questions neither could answer alone. Convergent designs and joint displays with vaccination governance in northwest Syria, an explanatory sequential study of perioperative care in southern Ethiopia, an exploratory sequential distress screening tool for women in Kenya, and how to match the design to the question.8 min
- 4Quality and rigor in qualitative and mixed methods researchWithout statistical significance or confidence intervals, qualitative research is judged on credibility, transferability, dependability and confirmability. The tactics behind each, from triangulation and thick description to audit trails, reflexivity and negative case analysis, and the extra bar mixed methods studies have to clear: the quality of integration.5 min