Qualitative Methods for Health Economics

Joanna Coast is a Professor in the Economics of Health & Care at the University of Bristol. She has published numerous papers on the role and implementation of qualitative methods in health economics and one of her main research areas is in end of life care.

Introduction: Why use qualitative methods in health economics? Joanna Coast / Part 1: Choices about methods / 1. Theoretical positions and methodological choices, Joanna Coast and Louise Jackson / 2. Designing qualitative research studies in health economics, Joanna Coast, Amanda Owen-Smith and Philip Kinghorn / 3. Understanding sampling, Amanda Owen-Smith and Joanna Coast / 4. Understanding data collection: interviews, focus groups and observation, Amanda Owen-Smith and Joanna Coast / 5. Understanding primary data analysis, Joanna Coast and Louise Jackson / 6. Understanding secondary data analysis, Hareth Al-Janabi and Amanda Owen-Smith / 7. Presenting qualitative data for health economics, Joanna Coast / Part II: Empirical case studies / A. Using qualitative methods to improve quantitative economic methods / 8. Qualitative methods in discrete choice experiments: two case studies , Jane Vosper, Joanna Coast and Terry Flynn/ 9. Using qualitative methods to develop a preference based health related quality of life measure for use in economic evaluation – the development of the Child Health Utility 9D, Katherine Stevens / 10. Constructing statement sets for use in Q methodology studies, Rachel Baker, Neil McHugh and Helen Mason / 11. Using non-participant observation and think-aloud to understand and improve modelling processes, Samantha Husband, Sue Jowett, Pelham Barton and Joanna Coast / 12. Incorporating novel qualitative methods within health economics: the use of pictorial tools, Alastair Canaway, Hareth Al-Janabi, Philip Kinghorn, Cara Bailey, and Joanna Coast / B. Using qualitative methods to improve understanding of quantitative economic findings / 13. Using think-aloud to understand measure completion, Cara Bailey, Philip Kinghorn and Joanna Coast / 14. Getting beyond the numbers: using qualitative methods to explore the validity of health state valuation techniques, Suzanne Robinson / 15. Use of deliberative methods to facilitate and enhance understanding of the weighting of survey attributes, Philip Kinghorn, Alastair Canaway, Cara Bailey and Joanna Coast / C: using qualitative methods to improve economic understanding / 16. Contributions of qualitative methods to the study of priority setting and resource allocation in health care, Neale Smith / 17. Using cost-effectiveness evidence in making priority gradings – the case of the Swedish national guidelines for heart diseases Nathalie Eckhard and Ann-Charlotte Nedlund / 18. Using qualitative methods in impact evaluation – the case of the results-based financing for maternal and neonatal care impact evaluation in Malawi Manuela De Allegri / 19. An assessment of an international declaration on aid effectiveness through qualitative methods at the country level Melisa Martinez-Álvarez / Conclusion: Moving forward – issues in qualitative methods in health economics, Joanna Coast and colleagues