All the replicable science in the universe doesn't amount to the storied hill of beans if the recipient of said scientific evidence - in medicine, that's the patient - finds no outcome of value from it. The quantitative-only BMJ dictum sounds scarily akin to "the surgery was a success, but the patient died."
There can be no real system improvement - locally or globally - without the ground-level/scientific-rubber-meets-actual-outcome-road insights delivered by qualitative study of empirical science. EBM on its own can add years to life, but without quality of life in those years (as previously mentioned by Bailey Souza in his comment) ... what's the point?
Rapid Response:
Value of care MIA without qualitative research
All the replicable science in the universe doesn't amount to the storied hill of beans if the recipient of said scientific evidence - in medicine, that's the patient - finds no outcome of value from it. The quantitative-only BMJ dictum sounds scarily akin to "the surgery was a success, but the patient died."
There can be no real system improvement - locally or globally - without the ground-level/scientific-rubber-meets-actual-outcome-road insights delivered by qualitative study of empirical science. EBM on its own can add years to life, but without quality of life in those years (as previously mentioned by Bailey Souza in his comment) ... what's the point?
Competing interests: No competing interests