RATIONALE AND STANDARDS FOR THE SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF QUALITATIVE LITERATURE IN HEALTH-SERVICES RESEARCH

Despite growing recognition of the need for qualitative methods in hea lth services research, there have been few attempts to define quality standards for assessing the results. This article acknowledges the des irability of a plurality of standards. However, it is argued that thre e interrelated criteria can be identified as the foundation of good qu alitative health research: interpretation of subjective meaning, descr iption of social context, and attention to lay knowledge. These criter ia can be examined in relation to different dimensions of ally researc h report, including theoretical basis, sampling strategy, scope of dat a collection, description of data collected, and concern with generali zability or typicality. But if the concern is with the appropriateness of care and with understanding the factors that shape lay and clinica l behavior then these criteria must form the basis of a hierarchy of q ualitative research evidence.