Critical Appraisal of Qualitative Research

Workshop Overview

Qualitative research is a term for study methodologies that describe and explain people’s experiences, behaviours, interactions and social contexts without the use of statistical procedures or quantification. It addresses questions that help us to understand the meaning and experience of people’s lives and their social milieu.Good qualitative research occurs when participants’ subjective meanings, actions and social contexts have been illuminated. These insights can then be used to shape policy development and implementation.

In this workshop, we will provide an overview of qualitative research and its uses.

We will look at the ways in which the quality of qualitative research can be assessed. We will use the CASP Qualitative Research checklist to critically appraise a published paper from the published literature, and finally we will explore how the insights gained from qualitative research can be integrated into policy.

Learning Objectives

• To gain an appreciation of the role and uses of qualitative research
• To understand how the quality of qualitative research is assessed
• To gain experience in critically appraising a qualitative research study
• To explore the interpretation of the results of qualitative research and how to apply them in policy and practice.

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Training Course Location

Participant places are limited in this virtual workshop to ensure optimal interaction between participants and lead trainer. CPD certification (equivalent to 3.5 hours) is available if required.

This workshop will take place online, and joining instructions will be sent to you after completion of booking. Participants will be sent pre-reading to complete before the start of the session.

This course will be taught in English and takes place in GMT time.

Why critical appraisal?

Everyone wants good health and effective healthcare. How do we know, however, whether an intervention is truly effective? Many interventions are given with the best of intention but have later been found to be ineffective and therefore a waste of finite healthcare resources.

Moreover, instances of harm from giving certain ‘treatments’ are being reported. It is important that interventions are evaluated in clinical trials before they are widely disseminated. If health-policy decisions are to be truly informed, they need to be based on the best available research evidence; however, how can we decide whether the evidence is trustworthy?

This is where critical appraisal can help. Critical appraisal skills enable you to assess systematically the trustworthiness, relevance and results of published papers.

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