How to … Choose a Methodology for Health Professions Education Research

Abstract

This How to… guide aims to offer a framework for selecting research methodologies in health professions research, in response to the lack of explicit guidance on selection appropriate research methodologies. Despite an awareness of how methodological decisions shape research processes, and ultimately outcomes, the practicalities of making robust methodological choices often remain tacit as early career researchers navigate a fragmented methodological landscape. As such, we provide a six-step process to articulate what we have found to be helpful in our decision-making, offering also a worked example. We recognise that methodological decision-making is ultimately shaped by reflexivity and individual heuristics and there is no single ‵best′ methodology, not way to choose a methodology. Nonetheless, we hope this offers a springboard for decision-making.