Qualitative research -- concerned with how people interpret their experience and how they use those interpretations to guide the way they live -- can help enrich facts and figures produced by quantitative research. This introductory piece briefly describes qualitative research methodology, design, and sampling strategies, and emphasizes the collaborative and participatory characteristics of this approach.
Greater attention to reproductive health resulting from the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development, and questions about sexual behavior raised by the global HIV/AIDS epidemic, have heightened interest in the use of qualitative research. As such research expands into new areas, its many findings are being used to guide research and program design. For example, qualitative methods are particularly useful in helping researchers understand survey populations, as described in Strengthening Behavioral Surveys. Such research also complements findings from quantitative studies, and explores issues that are hidden or have received little study. Changing Attitudes Present Opportunities explains, for example, how qualitative methods have illuminated changing attitudes in Nepal toward love, marriage, and childbearing. Clear, systematic guidelines for the planning and conduct of qualitative research in sexual and reproductive health have been lacking, but FHI has recently published a field guide of practical strategies and methods for using qualitative research. The basic logic and rationale for qualitative research decisions are also presented in the guide, which is described in Clear Guidelines for Qualitative Research.
As qualitative research explores an increasing number of reproductive health topics, it is generating ideas about ways to improve services. In the following articles, readers will find summaries of selected qualitative research initiatives that address diverse reproductive health issues:
How Women Interpret Gynecological Symptoms
Qualitative research conducted in northeast Thailand indicated that gynecological symptoms are common and of substantial concern to women, greatly affecting their health-seeking behavior, use of medication, sexual relations, and peace of mind.
Complex Factors Hinder Condom Promotion
In recent research using both quantitative and qualitative methods, FHI investigators sought to identify and explain factors interfering with condom promotion at two locations in western Kenya. The goal: to help the Kenyan Ministry of Health lower the prevalence of STIs/HIV in the region by developing ways to improve condom counseling and distribution.
When Women Hide Contraceptive Use
In two studies one in urban Mali and another in urban Zambia use of qualitative research methods revealed why a small subset of contraceptive users chose to keep their method use secret from their partners.
Communication Style Can Affect Method Continuation
In a study using a qualitative design and a quantitative analysis, investigators found that client-centered interactions in family planning clinics in Egypt were associated with greater client satisfaction and, notably, greater contraceptive method continuation.
Integrating STI Services Proves Problematic
Qualitative research in four African countries showed that attempts to integrate the management of sexually transmitted infections into existing maternal and child health-family planning services were difficult.
Domestic Violence Examined
In Goa, India, qualitative research designed to help develop sustainable interventions to assist victims of domestic violence has contributed to the creation of a fully staffed network of domestic violence counselors and legal experts.
Beneficial Policies Need To Be Implemented
Marked gaps between policy and practice regarding domestic violence and family planning services were brought to light by qualitative research in Orellana, Ecuador.
Keys to Reducing Maternal Mortality
Recommendations of ways to reduce maternal deaths arise from qualitative research into the circumstances of 63 obstetric emergencies in West Java, Indonesia.
Will Vaginal Microbicides Be Acceptable?
Investigators are using qualitative research methods to determine whether women and men are likely to accept a vaginal microbicide as protection against sexually transmitted infections, including HIV.
The impact of involving youth in reproductive health programs is still unknown. But combining youths' energy and daring with adults' experience, funding, and credibility elevated youth concerns about HIV/AIDS as a priority for international leaders at the XIV International AIDS Conference in Barcelona, Spain.
