There is still a case for a generic qualitative approach in some pharmacy practice research

Pharmacy practice researchers are increasingly employing qualitative research to understand complex social problems.1 This is as a result of the value of qualitative research in exploring people’s experience, behaviour and emotions, and in understanding a phenomenon from the participants’ perspectives. Qualitative research involves a wide range of philosophies and approaches and has been variously classified and described in the literature. However, our experience in one of our studies still makes a case for a generic approach in some pharmacy practice research. We therefore present a brief overview of the two qualitative approaches, phenomenology and grounded theory that we thought could be applicable to our research.