Although complexity theory is increasingly used to explain and understand complex health-system behavior, little is known about utilizing complexity theory to augment qualitative research methods. We advance this field by describing our use of complexity theory as a qualitative research methodology to explore sustainable health-care responses to intimate partner violence. We outline how complexity theory shaped our theoretical perspective, conceptualization of the research problem, and selection of methodology and methods. We show how a research methodology informed by complexity theory can capture new insights into complex problems, advancing the application of complexity theory and qualitative research design.Keywords complexity theory, complex adaptive system, intimate partner violence, health care, methods in qualitative inquiry, discourse analysis
What Is Already Known?Complexity theory is increasingly used to explain and understand complex health-system behavior, yet application within health-care research varies widely. Most often, a selection of complexity concepts is applied to guide a research approach or data interpretation.
What This Paper Adds?We advance this field by considering the implications of utilizing complexity theory as a qualitative research methodology and present a possible framework for exploring and describing complex system behavior.