Qualitative description – the poor cousin of health research?

TLDR

Qualitative description is a limited‑used but valuable health‑services research method, especially in mixed methods, questionnaire design, and time‑constrained studies, though its scope must be understood. The article aims to discuss the benefits, strengths, weaknesses, and provide examples of qualitative descriptive use. Researchers sometimes mislabel studies, but qualitative description offers a viable alternative.

Abstract

The knowledge and use of qualitative description as a qualitative research approach in health services research is limited. The aim of this article is to discuss the potential benefits of a qualitative descriptive approach, to identify its strengths and weaknesses and to provide examples of use. Qualitative description is a useful qualitative method in much medical research if you keep the limitations of the approach in mind. It is especially relevant in mixed method research, in questionnaire development and in research projects aiming to gain firsthand knowledge of patients', relatives' or professionals' experiences with a particular topic. Another great advantage of the method is that it is suitable if time or resources are limited. As a consequence of the growth in qualitative research in the health sciences, researchers sometimes feel obliged to designate their work as phenomenology, grounded theory, ethnography or a narrative study when in fact it is not. Qualitative description might be a useful alternative approach to consider.