Reflexivity can be a complex concept to grasp when entering the world of qualitative research. In this paper, we aim to encourage new qualitative researchers to become reflexive as they develop their critical research skills, differentiating between the familiar concept of reflection and reflective practice and that of reflexivity. While reflection is, to all intents and purposes, a goal-oriented action with the aim of improving practice, reflexivity is a continual process of engaging with and articulating the place of the researcher and the context of the research. It also involves challenging and articulating social and cultural influences and dynamics that affect that context. As a hallmark of high quality qualitative research, reflexivity is not only an individual process, but one that needs to be considered a collective process within a research team and communicated throughout the research process. In keeping with our previous papers in this series, we have illustrated the theoretical concept of reflexivity using practical examples of published research As a group of researchers, clinicians and academics, we are drawn together to support and further the development of qualitative research in medical and health professions education.Bringing together our diverse disciplinary backgrounds, research experiences and positions, in writing a series of 'How to….'papers for The Clinical Teacher, we hope to support qualitative researchers, students and teachers. We have challenged ourselves to collaborate not solely on areas of common interest, but to explore issues in qualitative research that allow us also to learn from each other.
WBAs provide trainees with a justified reason to approach trainers for feedback. WBAs, however, are not being reified as the formative assessments originally intended. A culture change may be required to change the focus of WBA research and reconceptualise this set of tools and methods as a workplace learning .
The extent to which WBA can be used to detect and manage underperformance in postgraduate trainees is unclear although evidence to date suggests that multirater assessments (i.e. MSF) may be of more use than single-rater judgments (e.g. mini-clinical evaluation exercise).
In this paper, the fifth in a series on qualitative research in medical education, we discuss approaches to analysing qualitative data. We focus primarily on analysing transcribed interview and focus group data. We also touch on the analysis of visual data, a potentially fruitful alternative approach. 8
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