Qualitative research methods in medical dissertations: an observational methodological study on prevalence and reporting quality of dissertation abstracts in a German university

Abstract

Background Qualitative methods offer a unique contribution to health research. Academic dissertations in the medical field provide an opportunity to explore research practice. Our aim was to assess the use of qualitative methods in dissertations in the medical field. Methods By means of a methodological observational study, an analysis of all academic medical dissertations’ abstracts between 1998 and 2018 in a repository databank of a large medical university faculty in Germany was performed. This included MD dissertations (Dr. med. (dent.)) and medical science dissertations (Dr. sc. hum.). All abstracts including “qualitativ*” were screened for studies using qualitative research methods. Data were extracted from abstracts using a category grid considering a) general characteristics (year, language, degree type), b) discipline, c) study design (mixed methods/qualitative only, data conduction, data analysis), d) sample (size and participants) and e) technologies used (data analysis software and recording technology). Thereby reporting quality was assessed. Results In total, 103 abstracts of medical dissertations between 1998 and 2018 (1.4% of N = 7619) were included, 60 of MD dissertations and 43 of medical sciences dissertations. Half of the abstracts (n = 51) referred to dissertations submitted since 2014. Most abstracts related to public health/hygiene (n = 27) and general practice (n = 26), followed by medical psychology (n = 19). About half of the studies (n = 47) used qualitative research methods exclusively, the other half (n = 56) used mixed methods. For data collection, primarily individual interviews were used (n = 80), followed by group interviews (n = 33) and direct observation (n = 11). Patients (n = 36), physicians (n = 36) and healthcare professionals (n = 17) were the most frequent research participants. Incomplete reporting of participants and data analysis was common (n = 67). Nearly half of the abstracts (n = 46) lacked information on how data was analysed, most of the remaining (n = 43) used some form of content analysis. In summary, 36 abstracts provided all crucial data (participants, sample size,; data collection and analysis method). Conclusion A small number of academic dissertations used qualitative research methods. About a third of these reported all key aspects of the methods used in the abstracts. Further research on the quality of choice and reporting of methods for qualitative research in dissertations is recommended.

Sealing the gaps: enhancing quality control in business school dissertations

“…However, no study has specifically examined the details of the quality issues of business school dissertations. The need for specialized studies was established from works by Ullrich et al (2020), who researched dissertations from medical sciences; Cleary (1992) and Adams and White (1994), who considered dissertations from public administration; Ronau et al (2014), who studied dissertations on the use of technology in mathematical education; Lovitts and Wert (2020), who looked into dissertations from social sciences; and Petr et al (2015), who investigated dissertations for social work. Business education is a popular stream of education not only in India but also worldwide, as evidenced by the programs offered by top global universities (Times Higher Education, 2023).…”

“…Dissertations are important because, unlike books, they promote the conduction of specialized research in different domains. For instance, while Ullrich et al (2020) researched dissertations from the medical sciences, Cleary (1992) and Adams and White (1994) examined dissertations from public administration. Randolph (2009) conducted specialized research focusing on writing a literature review for this dissertation.…”

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“…Keragaman dan fleksibilitas metode analisis menuntut peneliti kualitatif untuk dapat lebih inovatif dibandingkan peneliti kuantitatif, seperti menseleksi secara ketat data yang diperoleh dan menyampaikan pelaporan secara transparan. Berbeda dengan banyak bentuk analisis kuantitatif, metode analisis kualitatif cenderung tidak memiliki definisi dan prosedur yang terstandarisasi dan disepakati secara luas (Ullrich et al, 2020). Tidak ada kesepakatan bagaimana proses analisis pada penelitian kualitatif.…”

Residents as Research Subjects: Balancing Resident Education and Contribution to Advancing Educational Innovations

“…40 This is also based on the notions of contribution value and information power of qualitative sampling. [41][42][43][44] Although nominal group technique is often associated with mixed methods, we used a qualitative exploratory design, comparable to other recent studies. [45][46][47] It is similar to the Delphi method, with the distinction that it is usually structured in face-to-face interactions involving 5 to 12 participants.…”