―日本の医療分野における質的研究論文の検討（第1報）―論文数の推移と研究法の混同

An Examination of Qualitative Research in the Japanese Health Sciences, Part 1 : A Review of the Number of Papers Published and the Confusion over Types of Methodology

　1990年から2010年までに医療系雑誌に掲載された質的研究法を用いた原著論文を，医学中央雑誌（医中誌）Webで検索した。1993年には1本だけだった論文が，1999年に10本台，2003年に100本台，2006年には200本台，2007年には300本台と，年を追うごとに増えており，量の面からみると，質的研究は根づいてきたといえそうである。これは看護系4年制大学や大学院数の増加とも比例している。論文数が急増する中で，質的研究法が適切に用いられているのかを確認するために，グラウンデッド・セオリー・アプローチ（GTA）を例にして，432論文を検討したところ，修正版グラウンデッド・セオリー・アプローチ（M-GTA）を用いた213本の中の34論文（16.0％）に，「GTAを用いた」と書かれており，GTAとM-GTAの混同が推測された。

　By searching the Ichushi (Japan Medical Abstracts Society) web site, the number of original articles that used qualitative research in health sciences journals from 1990 to 2010 was investigated. It was found that only one such article was published in 1993, but in 1999 there were over ten, in 2003 there were over one hundred, in 2006 over two hundred, and in 2007 over three hundred, indicating a dramatic increase each year. From the perspective of volume, it can be said that qualitative research has taken root. It was also discovered that this dramatic increase is directly coincident with the rapid development of four year university nursing programs and graduate nursing programs. In the context of this sudden increase, it was felt that whether qualitative research was being appropriately conducted needed to be investigated. Grounded Theory Approach (GTA) was used as a representative example of a qualitative research methodology, and when it was used as a search term, 432 articles appeared in the results. However, 213 of these used Modified Grounded Theory Approach (M-GTA)，and 34 (16.0%) that did so claimed to use GTA. This indicates some confusion about the distinction between GTA and M-GTA.