Qualitative research has been used for centuries in the discipline of social sciences to examine the experiences, perspectives, and perceptions of individuals and communities. Recently, qualitative research has also emerged as a reputable paradigm of research inquiry within the field of health sciences. Qualitative research may be considered a research approach complementary to quantitative research, which is most commonly utilized in medical disciplines through the use of randomised controlled trials and meta-analyses of treatment effectiveness. It aims to elaborate, explain, and describe social phenomena such as the relationship between patients and healthcare providers, how medical interventions may affect long-term care and quality of life, and how to contextualize the findings of randomized controlled trials to the complex lives of patients by considering the multitude of factors that influence treatment effectiveness. Qualitative research seeks to answer the "why" and "how" of phenomena as opposed to the "what" and "how much." The majority of novice investigators will use the quantitative research paradigm for an independent study course or their thesis dissertation. When these investigators encounter the qualitative research paradigm, they are struck with the lack of simple and useful resources available that identify, clarify, and explicate the qualitative research process. This article aims to serve as an introductory guide for novice investigators who wish to integrate the tradition of qualitative research into their practices. The authors introduce the purpose, components, and process of qualitative research including common methodologies, data collection methods, sampling strategies, and data analysis approaches.
Background Postoperative length of stay (LOS) carries a high burden of healthcare costs. In resource‐intense specialties such as neurosurgery, it is imperative to identify factors that influence LOS to improve care. The current study investigates the potential for variables that affect clinical presentation, tumor characteristics, treatment modalities, and postoperative complications to impact overall LOS in pediatric brain tumor patients. Methods A retrospective cohort study design was used with patients enrolled in the McMaster Pediatric Brain Tumor Study Group database. All patients up to 18 years of age, presenting with a newly diagnosed brain tumor admitted to and discharged from neurosurgery, were included. Patients were sorted into three cohorts: short LOS (≤3 days), extended LOS (≥20 days), and control LOS (4‐19 days). Results Of the 124 patients included, 20 (65% male; median age: 9.1 years; range, 0.8‐17.4 years) were considered short LOS, 28 (61% male; median age: 4.7 years; range, 0.4‐14.7 years) were considered extended LOS, and 76 (57% male; median age: 8.5 years; range, 0.3–17.9 years) were considered control LOS. Variables that prolonged LOS were emesis at presentation (P < 0.001), developmental delay (P = 0.02), multiple surgeries (P = 0.004), tumor location (P < 0.05), subtotal resection (P = 0.02), feeding tube (P < 0.001), adjuvant chemoradiotherapy (P < 0.001), and posterior fossa syndrome (P = 0.004). Conclusions This study identifies variables related to clinical presentation, tumor characteristics, treatment modalities, and postoperative complications associated with extended LOS. These findings uncover novel predictors of LOS that can be used to guide future research and improve health resource management.
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