Understanding and evaluating qualitative research

This article was written for scholars who do not engage in qualitative research and/or who are not familiar with its methods and epistemologies. It focuses on naturalistic qualitative research with families, An overview of the goals and procedures of qualitative research is first presented. This is followed by a discussion of the linkages between epistemologies and methodology. Then, possible guidelines involved in the several steps of the evaluation process of qualitative family papers are reviewed. This is complemented by an overview of problems frequently encountered both by reviewers and by authors of such papers. The variety of qualitative epistemologies and methods in family research is highlighted, even though our focus is limited to epistemologies lending to naturalistic fieldwork.