SHARED UNDERSTANDING OF THE QUALITATIVE RESEARCH PROCESS - GUIDELINESFOR THE MEDICAL-RESEARCHER

The qualitative research process is presented and discussed as a model , emphasizing matters frequently experienced as unfamiliar by the medi cal researcher. This model represents a prescriptive methodology, impl ying underlying values on construction of scientific knowledge where s hared understanding-intersubjectivity-is considered as essential. Vari ous stages of the research process are demonstrated, drawing attention to matters that influence analysis and the paths to knowledge, especi ally preconceptions and theoretical frames of reference. Principles an d procedures related to analysis of qualitative data, as decontextuali zing and recontextualizing, are explained. The structure of this model , accentuating the researcher's responsibility to give access to all l evels of the research process, underlies all kinds of scientific inqui ry. Such principles should probably more often be explicitly questione d and accounted for in all sorts of medical research.