Competency-based learning requires making changes in the higher education model in response to current socio-educational demands. Rubrics are an innovative educational tool for competence evaluation, for both students and educators. Ever since arriving at the university systems, the application of rubrics in evaluation programs has grown progressively. However, there is yet to be a solid body o...

Although qualitative research is gaining recognition in medicine and in medical education, most clinical teachers do not know how to perform a critical appraisal of articles in these fields. This article describes a grid for the critical appraisal of qualitative research articles so that clinical teachers are in a better position to evaluate this type of research and to teach the critical appra...

Increasing longevity and prevalence of long-term conditions contribute to older adults being the greatest users of health services. However, relatively little is known about the health and illness beliefs of the oldest old or how they decide to seek help in response to symptoms. Through analysis of in-depth interviews with day centre attendees aged 80-93, we find that a moral, hierarchical appr...

Qualitative research methods are enjoying unprecedented popularity. Although checklists have undoubtedly contributed to the wider acceptance of such methods, these can be counterproductive if used prescriptively. The uncritical adoption of a range of “technical fixes” (such as purposive sampling, grounded theory, multiple coding, triangulation, and respondent validation) does not, in itself, co...

This study analyses the changes in prevalence of undernutrition between the 1980s and 1990s at the national and sub-national levels in India and focuses on the rural-urban comparisons. The study exploits the demographic information available in household surveys to derive a household-specific norm as the calorie cutoff point to measure undernutrition, instead of the single per capita norm used ...

Canadian autism policy has been unusually contentious, with parents resorting to litigation to secure services for their children in several provinces. To ascertain whether consensus was possible on improving services, we conducted an in-depth qualitative interview study with 39 parents, policymakers and researchers across the country. Parents vividly described the stresses of caring for their ...