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Family Practice Vol. 9, No. 1, 85-91
© Oxford University Press 1992

research-article

Qualitative Research and Family Practice: A Marriage made in Heaven?

ELIZABETH MURPHY*, and BENGT MATTSON**

* School of Social Studies, University of Nottingham UK
** University of Ume Sweden

Correspondence to: Elizabeth Murphy, School of Social Studies, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK

Recent years have seen the development of interest in the usefulness of qualitative methods in family practice research. This paper shows how the underlying concerns of family practice medicine parallel those of the qualitative research tradition. After contrasting the philosophical underpinnings of both quantitative and qualitative methods, we go on to describe the methodological commitments of qualitative research. We relate this emerging debate within family practice to that which has taken place in other disciplines, particularly that of education. We discuss the relative strengths of qualitative and quantitative methods, and argue that these two traditions have complementary contributions to make to the discipline of family practice medicine.


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