The Quality of Qualitative Research: From Evaluation to Attainment

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to emphasize the importance of quality in the research process instead of its valuation afterwards, an issue the literature has given extensive attention to. In addition, it is a reflection on the debate about the quality of qualitative research and presents the assessment of quality as a situated practice. Reflexivity is presented not as a criterion to assess the research quality but as an instrument to achieve it. There are three characteristics of qualitative research that researchers need to pay reflexive attention to. The first is that qualitative studies deal with human experiences; the second that these experiences are subjective; and the third that qualitative knowledge is ideographic and constructed during the study. Beyond these characteristics, issues are signaled that are constantly repeated in the studies and that unknowingly are a threat to their quality are addressed in this paper.

Life story of university students and the adjustment of living with motor deficiency

“…The present study is about a qualitative research (8) in which the aspects of human experience from the life story are emphasized. This study is a clipping of the nursing course completion work of Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC) (9) , and the method "thematic life story", in which interviews have a specific thematic character for the study group, with the interviewer aiming to clarify the facts from the interviewees' speech (10) , was used for its development.…”

O Método Da Bricolage Em Pesquisas Em Saúde E Enfermagem - Construindo O Caminho Ao Caminhar

“…In this debate, reflexive action during the course of all research is considered as a factor to obtain quality, or rather, an instrument at its reach, since such studies are subjective and deal with human experience and the research itself. 10 These issues still generate controversy due to the influences of the positivist which still hangs over the scientific paths, emphasizing the need to favor the method. Qualitative research questions Cartesian thinking, demonstrating that it can no longer answer all questions, and precisely because it has this characteristic, it needs a rigorous methodological report.…”

Inova��o em pesquisa na enfermagem psiqui�trica: coleta de dados informatizada

“…Desse modo, a qualidade das pesquisas não deve ser avaliada somente ao seu término, mas ser objeto de preocupação durante suas diferentes etapas. Portanto, a qualidade não é um produto final, mas parte de um longo processo, pela qual o enfermeiro se responsabiliza desde a sua concepção até a divulgação dos resultados (6) .…”