Critically Appraising Qualitative Research Evidence

"As you review the Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) literature, you note the increasing number of qualitative research studies being published. Since you do not know as much about this methodology and how to critically evaluate it, you decide to find out what information is available to help you become more knowledgeable about this research method and how to critically appraise qualitative research reports."

This article by ME Duffy (Resources for critically appraising qualitative research evidence for nursing practice clinical question. Clin Nurse Spec. 2005 Nov-Dec;19(6):288-90) gives guidance on how to critically appraise the qualitative literature.

The article also cites a number of tools that can assist in the appraisal, including Critical Appraisal Checklist for an Article on Qualitative Research from the Department of General Practice, University of Glasgow Web site. The link in the refernence list does not work, so try this one instead ... Critical appraisal checklist for an article on qualitative research.

Another tool cited is also incorrectly linked ... so use this link instead. Giacomini M, Cook D. A User's Guide to Qualitative Research in Health Care. Centre for Health Evidence, University of Alberta; 2004.

Despite it's rocky citations, this article is a great start for discovering how to critically appriase qualitative literature.

For those of you that want to investigate the concpet of critically appraising qualitative literature look into this website The Qualitative Report for more details.