Perspectives on the Role of Triangulation in Medicine and Health Care

Abstract

We consider the use of triangulation— the idea that we should examine a given phenomenon from a number of angles to get a “rounded appreciation” for the phenomenon in question— in health care. Viewing triangulation itself from a number of perspectives (e.g., related approaches, philosophical underpinnings, examples of applications), we argue that some form of triangulation will often prove useful to the researcher and clinician, though the approach has limitations and which form, if any, should be used in a given situation depends on context.