Educators often pose questions about qualitative research. For example, a program director might say: ''I collect data from my residents about their learning experiences in a new longitudinal clinical rotation. If I want to know about their learning experiences, should I use qualitative methods? I have been told that there are many approaches from which to choose. Someone suggested that I use grounded theory, but how do I know this is the best approach? Are there others?'' What Is KnownQualitative research is the systematic inquiry into social phenomena in natural settings. These phenomena can include, but are not limited to, how people experience aspects of their lives, how individuals and/or groups behave, how organizations function, and how interactions shape relationships. In qualitative research, the researcher is the main data collection instrument. The researcher examines why events occur, what happens, and what those events mean to the participants studied. 1,2Qualitative research starts from a fundamentally different set of beliefs-or paradigms-than those that underpin quantitative research. Quantitative research is based on positivist beliefs that there is a singular reality that can be discovered with the appropriate experimental methods. Post-positivist researchers agree with the positivist paradigm, but believe that environmental and individual differences, such as the learning culture or the learners' capacity to learn, influence this reality, and that these differences are important. Constructivist researchers believe that there is no single reality, but that the researcher elicits participants' views of reality.3 Qualitative research generally draws on post-positivist or constructivist beliefs.Qualitative scholars develop their work from these beliefs-usually post-positivist or constructivist-using different approaches to conduct their research. In this Rip Out, we describe 3 different qualitative research approaches commonly used in medical education: grounded theory, ethnography, and phenomenology. Each acts as a pivotal frame that shapes the research question(s), the method(s) of data collection, and how data are analyzed. 4,5 Choosing a Qualitative ApproachBefore engaging in any qualitative study, consider how your views about what is possible to study will affect your approach. Then select an appropriate approach within which to work. Alignment between the belief system underpinning the research approach, the research question, and the research approach itself is a prerequisite for rigorous qualitative research. To enhance the understanding of how different approaches frame qualitative research, we use this introductory challenge as an illustrative example.The clinic rotation in a program director's training program was recently redesigned as a longitudinal clinical experience. Resident satisfaction with this rotation improved significantly following implementation of the new longitudinal experience. The program director wants to understand how the changes made in the clinic rotation transla...

Interprofessional education (IPE) is considered a key mechanism in enhancing communication and practice among health care providers, optimizing participation in clinical decision making and improving the delivery of care. An important, though under-explored, factor connected to this form of education is the unequal power relations that exist between the health and the social care professions. Drawing on data from the evaluation of a large multi-site IPE initiative, we use Witz's model of professional closure (1992) to explore the perspectives and the experiences of participants and the power relations between them. A subset of interviews with a range of different professionals (n = 25) were inductively analyzed to generate emerging themes related to perceptions of professional closure and power. Findings from this work highlight how professionals' views of interprofessional interactions, behaviours and attitudes tend to either reinforce or attempt to restructure traditional power relationships within the context of an IPE initiative.

CONTEXT Professionalism is a hot topic in medical education, yet there is debate about what professionalism actually is. The reason is that medical educators primarily frame professionalism as a list of characteristics or behaviours. However, many sociologists of the professions favour more explanatory theories that incorporate political, economic and social dimensions into understanding of the nature and function of professionalism.OBJECTIVES This paper reviews a range of approaches used in the sociology of the professions to support the argument that medical education needs to reframe its priorities for research into, and the development of, professionalism in medical education. METHODSThe literature on the sociology of the professions was reviewed and summarised in relation to medical education.CONCLUSIONS A focus on individual characteristics and behaviours alone is insufficient as a basis on which to build further understanding of professionalism and represents a shaky foundation for the development of educational programmes and tools. Contemporary sociological literature on professionalism should have greater prominence in this domain.the cross-cutting edge