Qualitative Research in Health Care

Qualitative Research in Health Care was first published as a series in the BMJ in 1996 and then put together as a book. It established itself as the best basic introduction to the subject, and a "how to" book in the BMJ list that sell to a wide range of health care professionals and students. The second edition was published at the end of 1999. It was redesigned, included more up to date examples and was expanded with a new section on action research. It comes first in the Amazon "mot popular" search. The book has international appeal with contributions from mainland Europe as well as the UK. Nick Mays is based in New Zealand working for the NZ government 3 months of the year. Qualitative research is now regarded as an important part of evidence based medicine, as it provides the more human - non quantitative - perspective missing from RCTs. This small handbook is an excellent companion to our paperbacks such as How to Read a Paper, EBM Toolkit, and should find a student market as well.

Need for a new edition There are new types of qualitative research not discussed in the book There are new issues relating to qualitative research methods in the book that need addressing Existing chapters should be updated with new examples Sales of 2nd edition Lifetime sales pre April 2004: 3758. Sales from MBS 4.04-10: 425 Reviewers' comments Claire Genton Norwegian Health Services Research Centre, Oslo 1 How relevant is the book to the intended readership? Very relevant. Particularly the new chapters on synthesising qualitative research and mixing qualitative and quantitative methods are topical and highly relevant. 2 Can you think of any other groups who might find the book useful? Students. 3 Is the book up to date? Yes. 4 Are the proposed length and format appropriate for the subject and readership? If not, can you suggest a better length and format? Given the amount of topics and the fact, that it is a "how to" book where quite detailed instructions could be included, the book could be longer, for instance 200 pages. 5 Would the proposed price be acceptable to the readership? If not, what would be a suitable price range? Acceptable price.

Donna Waters, College of Nursing, NSW Australia 1 How relevant is the book to the intended readership? It is my impression that the series of papers published in the BMJ in 2000 have received greater recognition. Many of my colleagues (medical, nursing and other allied health) are aware of the papers and have referred to them in teaching/writing, but were not aware of the book (as per my difficulty in obtaining a copy for review of the 2nd edition). Much of the current edition is replication of these papers. I think the book provides a very thorough overview of qualitative method in health care. I am not sure that the book provides sufficient detail for clinical researchers, however, as much of the discussion is necessarily of a philosophical nature. I would be interested to know where the majority of sales occurred for the 2nd edition. I would take a guess and say that it was more likely relevant to undergraduate students. 2 Can you think of any other groups who might find the book useful? Students of ethics programs would find the dilemmas posed by qualitative researchers worthy of study. I think this is a strength of the book.

It raises the everyday sort of issues that qualitative researchers face whereas many books present only the 'ideal' situation and leave out the difficult bits. 3 Is the book up to date? With the proposed additions, the book would be up-to-date. As mentioned previously, the secondary analysis of primary data would be a very timely addition. I agree that the section on critical appraisal (quality) of qualitative research should be updated. It goes hand-in-hand that if you are going to have more people engaging in this method, others need to know how to grade the quality of the work. This seems to be a difficult area for some. The Action Research chapter would be a useful addition as suggested by authors. No mention of Feminist Method but depends on how popular this is in the UK. 4 Are the proposed length and format appropriate for the subject and readership? If not, can you suggest a better length and format? The beauty of the 2nd edition is that its length and format make it affordable to students and to those who may want a general discussion/infomation on the topic without paying a lot. Making significant changes will probably start pricing it out of this market.

Obviously you are aware of the need to correct the replicated section (p.75)? 5 Would the proposed price be acceptable to the readership? If not, what would be a suitable price range? As above, if intended readership is students, I believe the price is fair. 6 Please list any competing titles you may be aware of, either recently published or being planned. Understand that Polit may be planning new edition. Deserves comment that many new nursing research texts are incorporating qualitative and quantitative methods in same book. This is to foster acceptance of the notion of using the right method for the right question rather than focussing on 'method' in isolation.