Qualitative Research in Veterinary Medical Education: Part 1—Principles of Qualitative Design

Abstract

Qualitative methodologies are relative newcomers to health sciences education research. While they may look very different to their quantitative counterparts in terms of size and scope, when well-applied they offer a fresh perspective and generate valuable research findings. Although qualitative research is being increasingly conducted in veterinary medical education, there are few contextualized resources to assist those who would like to develop their expertise in this area. In this article, we address this by introducing the principles of qualitative research design in a veterinary medical education context. Drawing from a range of contemporary resources, we explore the types of research goals and questions that are amenable to qualitative inquiry and discuss the process of formulating a worthwhile research question. We explain what research paradigms are and introduce readers to some of the methodological options available to them in qualitative research. Examples from veterinary medical education are used to illustrate key points. In a second companion article, we will focus on the decisions that need to be made regarding data sampling, collection, and analysis. We will also consider how qualitative research is evaluated, and discuss how qualitative findings are applied. Taken together, the two articles build an understanding of qualitative research, illuminate its potential to contribute to the scholarship of teaching and learning in veterinary medical education, and equip readers with an improved capacity to appraise its value.

Assessment of a Teaching Module for Cardiac Auscultation of Horses by Veterinary Students

“…Thematic analysis can be criticized as being highly subjective and lacking in scientific rigor when measured against quantitative evaluative criteria [20,21,26,38]. However, qualitative research strategies, such as thematic analysis, allow researchers to generate a granularity of findings that cannot be obtained through quantitative means [20,21,26]. Participants can give voice to their individual perspectives and are not constrained by the researcher's hypotheses [20,21,26].…”

“…However, qualitative research strategies, such as thematic analysis, allow researchers to generate a granularity of findings that cannot be obtained through quantitative means [20,21,26]. Participants can give voice to their individual perspectives and are not constrained by the researcher's hypotheses [20,21,26]. Qualitative researchers can then take the full breadth of these individual perceptions and analyze them to describe and report patterns within data sets [20,21,26].…”

“…Participants can give voice to their individual perspectives and are not constrained by the researcher's hypotheses [20,21,26]. Qualitative researchers can then take the full breadth of these individual perceptions and analyze them to describe and report patterns within data sets [20,21,26]. If the thematic analysis codes are well defined and representative, then a high intercoder agreement will be achieved [39].…”

“…Qualitative analysis of the open-ended pre-and post-intervention survey questions was conducted by manual thematic analysis, the findings of which were compared with those generated by the Leximancer™ Version 4 software data analysis program (Brisbane, Queensland, Australia). The first step of the manual analysis was to examine the raw data and inductively develop a set of codes to represent patterns in the data (themes) [20,21]. This 'coding template' was utilized to code each response individually [20].…”

Veterinary professional identity: Conceptual analysis and location in a practice theory framework

“…There is insufficient research into how professional identity development is supported and understood in mid- and late career veterinarians, after career breaks and in times of challenge and crisis. On the theoretical level, although the importance of conceptual frameworks has been highlighted in the context of veterinary social science and especially qualitative research ( 132 ), there is a paucity of examples grounded in the veterinary context that elaborate and articulate such a rigorous, interdisciplinary conceptual framework. For researchers who are challenged to know what a conceptual framework is and how they might develop and represent their own, this example is likely to be of value–even if their own specific research focus and interests are unrelated to professional identity.…”