Qualitative methods can be used in public health research to inform the design of a quantitative study, to help interpret the results of a quantitative study, and as a primary method of data collection. This dissertation demonstrates these three uses of qualitative data by presenting three papers prepared for scientific journals and compares and contrasts the methods used for each paper The first paper shows how qualitative methods can be used as part of an epidemiological study to identify regimen, individual, community, and cultural factors that affect the adoption and maintenance of weekly Vitamin A supplementation. This information is used to design an effective information, education and communication campaign for a clinical trial. The second paper uses qualitative data to help interpret and validate the quantitative findings of a study exploring whether the subjects in a Vitamin A supplementation trial understand the consent form that they signed, know that not all the capsules provided by the trial are the same, and identifies factors associated with this knowledge. The final paper uses qualitative methods as an autonomous research tool to explore a new and emerging concept. The paper presents research conducted in three districts in South Africa exploring the range of sexual behavior change among HIV-positive individuals related to the availability of anti-retroviral therapy (ART) and compares this to diagnosis-related behavior change / acase@tulane.edu
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:TULANE/oai:http://digitallibrary.tulane.edu/:tulane_27116 |
| Date | January 2006 |
| Contributors | Hill, Zelee Elizabeth (Author), Kendall, Carl (Thesis advisor) |
| Publisher | Tulane University |
| Source Sets | Tulane University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | Access requires a license to the Dissertations and Theses (ProQuest) database., Copyright is in accordance with U.S. Copyright law |
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