Pesquisando na interface: Problemas e desafios a partir da pesquisa qualitativa em saúde

Abstract

There is a growing interest concerning the use of methodological procedures of qualitative research in various areas of knowledge where this kind of investigation was traditionally uncommon. Within healthcare, the importance of qualitative research for understanding health and disease processes is recognized. However, its credibility has been questioned, correlated with negligent use of qualitative approaches, such as the reduction of theoretical and methodological relevance. This misuse is most often noticed in publications in which a qualitative approach is used as a tool kit. Simultaneously, the institutions’ requirement that researchers should increase their productivity has forced them to review broader aims in their analysis and writing. Looking at a group or context requires a theoretical and methodological tool, in order to make inferences and to propose theoretical breakages and/or to demonstrate new points in relation to known topics.