Contextual Action Theory: An Integrative Framework for Qualitative Health Research

Abstract

Contextual action theory is presented as an integrative approach for research and evaluation in health, health interventions, and health promotion. This conceptualization provides a framework for the combination of qualitative and quantitative research and reflects the goal-directed nature of health and health interventions. Based on an ontology and epistemology of action, contextual action theory is about short-term actions, midterm projects, and long-term career in which goals are assumed, experienced, or attributed. A research method developed to study action uses systematic observation, reports of subjective processes, and naïve observation to access manifest behavior, internal thoughts and feelings, and social meaning, respectively. Different means of analysis are used for each type of data resulting in an integrated description of action. This conceptualization is applied to health research, and previous health-oriented studies are reviewed. Contextual action theory is also useful for evaluation and is compliant with the World Health Organization International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (WHO ICF). This chapter argues that the action organization of health processes should be used as evidence and provides a means to study these processes.