Research in Medical Education

  Medical education problems are complex, not only because of their multidisciplinary context, but also a result of multi causality process. Therefore, medical education researchers recognize the need for multiple approaches to understanding problems and developing effective interventions to improve quality of medical education.

  Qualitative methods help medical education researchers to understand underlying behavior, attitudes, perceptions, perceptions and culture in a way that quantitative methods alone can not. These methods also can be useful in understanding facilitators and barriers to the implementation of new medical education programs. Consequently, this article aims to introduce qualitative approaches, clarify differences between qualitative and quantitative methods and explanation the advantages of mixed method researches.