A Framework for Medical Education Research: Cultures, Contexts and Concepts

Abstract

In this chapter, in cutting through the unproductive opposition of quantitative versus qualitative approaches, we suggest the value not only of mixed methods approaches, but also of reconceptualizing research approaches through a new framework. Developing Denzin and Lincoln’s (2003) metaphor of ‘landscapes’ of research, we formulate a three-part framework for medical education research—‘cultures, contexts and concepts.’ Each of these terms provides a focus for research, while in interaction they form a powerful, informing framework. Good research should be culturally and historically aware—in the sense of positioning itself within research discourse, sensitive to the context(s) in which research is carried out—and conceptually rigorous, not only drawing on ideas and theory (reproductive of what is already there), but formulating new ideas and renewing theory (productive of new knowledge).