Qualitative studies reporting guide - 2016 

Qualitative studies provide insight into complex phenomena. Unlike measurement-based studies which typically quantify what happens under experimental conditions, qualitative studies often help explain behaviors or perceptions under actual circumstances. Qualitative studies in the field of communicable diseases can be used to provide insight into why people choose high-risk behaviours and to identify the factors that influence their decisions. For example, a qualitative study may address why healthcare practitioners do not practice adequate hand hygiene and whether patients might help by reminding them to do so. The results can be surprising. For example, a recent study identified that inpatients in one hospital who were most dissatisfied with the care they received were also the least likely to ask healthcare professionals if they had washed their hands^{Footnote 1}. Furthermore, the study identified that the decision not to pose this question was linked to patient awareness that staff satisfaction was low.

Qualitative research analyzes data from direct field observations, in-depth, open-ended interviews and written documents. Inductive analyses yield patterns and themes that generate hypotheses and offer a basis for future research. Although qualitative studies do not create generalizable evidence, well-reported studies provide enough information for readers to assess the applicability or transferability of findings to their own context^{Footnote 2}.

There are a variety of checklists about how to report qualitative studies^{Footnote 3,Footnote 4,Footnote 5,Footnote 6}. The Canada Communicable Disease Report (CCDR) has developed a 24-item checklist that synthesizes these including the COREQ checklist noted on the EQUATOR Network^{Footnote 6}. The CCDR checklist identifies the importance of describing how data was gathered and summarized, what trends were determined, exploring corroborative findings, offering alternative explanations and identifying possible next steps or further areas of inquiry (Table 1).

Reports of qualitative studies are usually around 2,500 words in length—excluding the abstract, tables and references. As with all submissions, check CCDR's Information for authors, published at the beginning of each volume in January of each year for general manuscript preparation and submission requirements^{Footnote 7}.