Abstract:
We analyzed articles on studies carried out by doctors using qualitative methods. A literature search of articles published on the SciELO Brazil database between 2004 and 2013 was performed using the following keywords: qualitative research, interview, focus group, participant observation, content analysis, discourse analysis, social representation, and dialectical hermeneutics. The texts were analyzed using a theoretical framework based on the qualitative research review guidelines (RATS). Articles were grouped into the following categories: consistent, not very consistent, and inconsistent. A total of 135 articles were selected from 28 journals. The majority (64.4%) were considered consistent. The main weaknesses found were: lack of information on methodological path; superficial and descriptive analysis without reference to relevant literature; conclusions that did not advance beyond common sense; decontextualized results, and lack of study limitations. We concluded that the majority of the articles had scientific validity and suggest that journals covering the health field should provide specific norms for articles produced from qualitative studies.
Keywords:
qualitative research; scientific knowledge; epistemology; peer review