Qualitative research methodology has been applied with increasing frequency in various fields, including in healthcare research, where quantitative research methodology has traditionally dominated, with an empirically driven approach involving statistical analysis. Drawing upon artifacts and verbal data collected from in-depth interviews or participatory observations, qualitative research examines the comprehensive experiences of research participants who have experienced salient yet unappreciated phenomena. In this study, we review 6 representative qualitative research methodologies in terms of their characteristics and analysis methods: consensual qualitative research, phenomenological research, qualitative case study, grounded theory, photovoice, and content analysis. We mainly focus on specific aspects of data analysis and the description of results, while also providing a brief overview of each methodology’s philosophical background. Furthermore, since quantitative researchers have criticized qualitative research methodology for its perceived lack of validity, we examine various validation methods of qualitative research. This review article intends to assist researchers in employing an ideal qualitative research methodology and in reviewing and evaluating qualitative research with proper standards and criteria.
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Korean summary
질적연구 방법론은 보건의료 연구에서 연구 참여자가 경험하는 주요 현상을 잘 포착할 수 있도록 해 준다. 이 논문에서는 합의적 질적연구, 현상학적 연구, 질적 사례 연구, 근거이론, 포토보이스, 내용 분석 등 6가지의 대표적인 질적 연구 방법론에 대한 간략한 철학적 배경과 구체적인 데이터 분석 및 해석 방법을 소개한다.
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Objectives Few attempts have been made to develop a generic health-related quality of life (HRQoL) instrument and to examine its validity and reliability in Korea. We aimed to do this in our present study.
Methods After a literature review of existing generic HRQoL instruments, a focus group discussion, in-depth interviews, and expert consultations, we selected 30 tentative items for a new HRQoL measure. These items were evaluated by assessing their ceiling effects, difficulty, and redundancy in the first survey. To validate the HRQoL instrument that was developed, known-groups validity and convergent/discriminant validity were evaluated and its test-retest reliability was examined in the second survey.
Results Of the 30 items originally assessed for the HRQoL instrument, four were excluded due to high ceiling effects and six were removed due to redundancy. We ultimately developed a HRQoL instrument with a reduced number of 20 items, known as the Health-related Quality of Life Instrument with 20 items (HINT-20), incorporating physical, mental, social, and positive health dimensions. The results of the HINT-20 for known-groups validity were poorer in women, the elderly, and those with a low income. For convergent/discriminant validity, the correlation coefficients of items (except vitality) in the physical health dimension with the physical component summary of the Short Form 36 version 2 (SF-36v2) were generally higher than the correlations of those items with the mental component summary of the SF-36v2, and vice versa. Regarding test-retest reliability, the intraclass correlation coefficient of the total HINT-20 score was 0.813 (p<0.001).
Conclusions A novel generic HRQoL instrument, the HINT-20, was developed for the Korean general population and showed acceptable validity and reliability.
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Since the positive listing system for prescription drug reimbursement has been introduced in Korea, the number of pharmacoeconomic evaluation studies has increased. However it is not clear if the quality of pharmacoeconomic evaluation study has improved. Due to the lack of randomized clinical studies in Korean health care setting, Korean economic evaluation studies have typically integrated the local cost data and foreign clinical data. Therefore methodological issues can be raised in regard to data coherence and consistency. But the quality of data was not questiened and the potential bias has not been investigated yet. Even though changes in policy have encouraged the undertaking of pharmacoeconomic evaluations, there is few public-side funding for validation study of cost-effectiveness models and data. Several companies perform economic evaluation studies to be submitted on behalf of their own products, but do not want the study results to be disclosed to the academic community or public. To improve the present conduct of pharmacoeconomic evaluations in Korea, various funding sources need to be developed, and, like other multidisciplinary areas, the experts in different fields of study should collaborate to ensure the validity and credibility of pharmacoeconomic evaluations.
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When conducting large-scale cohort studies, numerous statistical issues arise from the range of study design, data collection, data analysis and interpretation. In genomic cohort studies, these statistical problems become more complicated, which need to be carefully dealt with. Rapid technical advances in genomic studies produce enormous amount of data to be analyzed and traditional statistical methods are no longer sufficient to handle these data. In this paper, we reviewed several important statistical issues that occur frequently in large-scale genomic cohort studies, including measurement error and its relevant correction methods, cost-efficient design strategy for main cohort and validation studies, inflated Type I error, gene-gene and gene-environment interaction and time-varying hazard ratios. It is very important to employ appropriate statistical methods in order to make the best use of valuable cohort data and produce valid and reliable study results.
OBJECTIVES To evaluate the accuracy of the registered cause of death in a county and its related factors. METHODS: The data used in this study was based on 504 cases, in a county of Chonnam province, registered between January and December 1998. Study subjects consisted of 388 of the 504 cases, and their causes of death were established by an interview survey of the next of kin or neighbor and medical record surveys. We compared the registered cause of death with the confirmed cause of death, determined by surveys and medical records, and evaluated the factors associated with the accuracy of the registered cause of death. RESULTS: 62.6% of the deaths were concordant with 19 Chapters classification of cause of death. external causes of mortality, endocrine, nutritional and metabolic diseases, neoplasms and diseases of the circulatory system showed the good agreement between the registered cause of death and the confirmed cause of death. The factors relating to the accuracy of the registered cause of death were the doctors' diagnosis for the cause of death (adjusted Odds Ratio: 2.67, 95% Confidence Interval: 1.21-5.89) and the grade of the public officials in charge of the death registry (adjusted Odds Ratio: 0.30, 95% CI= 0.12-0.78). CONCLUSIONS: The accuracy of the registered cause of death was not high. It could be improved by using the doctors' diagnosis for death and improving the job specification for public officials who deal with death registration.